Evolution: Times of Change
by Lobsterbread
Summary: It is now five years after the events of Tokyo and three years after Beast Boy left the Titans. It is unclear as to why he has left until one day he suddenly returns. More questions are asked than answered. Full Summary inside. Rating Changed.
1. Prologue

A/N: Hello fellow readers. Just stating the normal disclaimers and whatnot: I do not own Teen Titans nor do I claim to own anything in this story. I just hope that people will enjoy this story as much as I do creating this. I'll try my best to try and not stray from the original cartoon-type characters and have accurate backgrounds. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Flames I will take and use to heat up my teapot; not welcomed. If you don't like it, don't read it. Simple as that.

Full Summary: It is now five years after the events of Tokyo and three years after Beast Boy left the Titans. It is unclear as to why he has left until one day he suddenly returns. But what will happen to the team, to Beast Boy when he finally returns? And why is it when he returns, Terra and Slade return as well?

Pairings: Mainly Beast Boy/Garfield x Raven and Nightwing x Starfire

Genre: Honestly, a little bit of everything. But if I had to choose: Action/Adventure and Romance. There's going to be Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Friendship, Horror, Mystery and an attempt at Humor. Note: Attempt.

Readers are cautioned: This story will contain Strong Language, "Graphic" scenes, Character death, Lemons and bad attempt at humor. You have been warned.

There will be a series of numbers with asterisks, designating them to be important. To understand their meanings scroll to the end of the story:

* * *

Evolution: Times of Change – Prologue

As Nightwing, formerly known as Robin, gazes out the giant windows, he watches the sun rise over the city, his city. As he watches the orange and yellow hues slowly blend and ultimately start turning to shades of blue, he can't help but feel nostalgic. He looks down at his chest and absentmindedly traces his finger on his new logo. His new name, Nightwing, was something he was still getting used to. About two years ago, when "Robin" turned 21, he thought that his "Traffic Light" outfit, as Cyborg keeps referring to his attire, should retire. Robin figured that since he was now older and considered an adult he should have a new name and look to match his more mature figure. And thus, Nightwing was created.

As time passes and slowly starts nearing breakfast, he remembers that it's a Sunday and it should be a relatively slow day. Criminals, lately, have seen to be more "religious" on Sundays because it was the only day during the week in which crime was at an all-time low. He chuckles to himself lightly as he concludes on how criminals are religious.

_Who would've thought that Sundays would be the quiet days?_ Nightwing thought to himself.

As he watches the sun slowly rise, he can't help but feel a little depressed. He glances over to one of the terminals that were on. As he read the time and date on the monitor screen he then remembers why today would be a long day. He suddenly turns around and finds himself, once again, reminiscing about the past; about _that_ day. How can he forget? It is one of the worst days he's had since he formed the Titans; since he met his new family.

_-Flashback-_

"_Dude, do you think that I have any other choice?" Beast Boy spat. "I have to do this…"_

"_Beast Boy, you always have choices," Robin rebuttals. "You can't possibly tell me that _you_ considered every possible choice and concluded that this is the best…" The Boy Wonder brings his eyes up from the floor to the defeated green eyes of his teammate, his friend, his brother._

"_Dude, do you seriously think that I haven't considered everything else?"_

"_I don't know Beast Boy. It's just that…" Robin looks hard into the changeling's eyes, hoping to find that the green boy before him had another solution, only to be disappointed. "Do you have any idea; I mean really, any idea on how this will not only affect the city of Jump but also members of this team?_

_As the human Traffic Light looks, desperately, at his teammate, he notices how Beast Boys' shoulders slump when faced with this reality. Robin knew that Beast Boy was more than capable with figuring out solutions to problems but this was something else. Just ten minutes ago, the Boy Wonder was lazily sifting through the channels on their enormous television screen when around 1:30 AM Beast Boy comes into the common room wreaking depression. Just one look at the green bean and you knew that this Happy-Go-Lucky all around veggie-consuming-failing-comedian was off his game. From the couch, he watched as he went into the fridge, got out a carton of soy milk and downed it in one gulp._

_As Robin turns off the television screen he then slowly turns on the lights in the common room, only illuminating the room enough to see faint outlines of the furniture that was scattered across the area. Even though it was solely meant to lighten up the room a bit, it still startled the changeling. Upon noticing that he wasn't the only one in the room he turned to face a rather confused looking Robin._

_And thus started the heated debate in which the two young heroes are currently entangled with._

"_Robin…" Beast Boy whispers. "How can I not? You guys are my friends, my teammates and more importantly, my family. It's just… as much as I don't want to think and believe that with me leaving the Titans is the best thing right now, it's the only thing that makes sense. Ya know?" Beast Boy then pulls up the nearest chair and slowly sits down on it feeling completely defeated._

"_But we can solve this!" Robin desperately pleads. "You of all people know that whatever problem arises, we always come back around and kick their asses. There has got to be some other solution to fix this. There just has to!" Robin turns around, facing away from Beast Boy and slams his fists on top of the rims of the couch._

"_Robin…" Beast Boy gets up and slowly walks over to his brother and places his right hand on his left shoulder. "Do you honestly think I _want _to do this?"_

"_Beast Boy, I know you don't want to but why won't you let us help you?" _

"_Robin, you already know why. Plus, I think it's better if I do this on my own. It'll be safer…" Robin then looks up and sees Beast Boy turn his head slightly to look towards Raven's room._

_Robin just couldn't accept it. He could not and would not accept the fact that the changeling would not ask for assistance but also deny it. He knew he was stubborn but damn. Why would he conclude that leaving the Titans was the best and only logical choice for him? Why does he continue to think he has to do this alone?_

"_Hey Robin…"_

_Robin was then snapped out of his slight rant with himself. "Yeah, Beast Boy?"_

"_I need to ask you a few favors…"_

"_Bu-"_

"_Please, don't interrupt or ask why. Just hear me out first, will ya?" Beast Boy looks straight into his leaders' masked eyes to make sure he had his undivided attention._

"_Alright Beast Boy, shoot."_

"_I need you to do a few things: First, please don't tell the others why I left." Robin opened his mouth to scream at his fellow teammate but as soon as he opened his mouth, he closed it. He could respect his brothers' last wishes before he left. "I mean, you can tell them I left because of personal issues and other things that are true but not the whole truth. Ya know what I mean, dude?" Robin acknowledges by nodding his head slowly._

"_And the last thing is, can you please give this to Raven?" Beast Boy reaches into his pocket and pulls out what looks to be a jewelry box. "Give this to her when she wakes up. Please don't open it." Beast Boy gives Robin an incriminating stare as he knows that Robin is tempted to see what it contains. "It's only for her and if you must know, it's an object with a note."_

"_Why don't you give it to her yourself, BB?" Robin said, handing the small black box back to his friend. "You and I both know you two have been relatively close. And when I mean 'relatively,' I mean pretty damn close compared to the rest of us."_

"_I know, Robin." Robin looks into Beast Boys' eyes noticing a slight pain in them. "I need you to do it because if I do it, I might lose control. I might break down completely and all of this thinking and stuff would be wasted. Please…"_

_Reluctantly, Robin withdraws his hand from Beast Boy and places the small box on top of the couch._

"_And the last thing," Beast Boy continues. "Please make sure Raven gets included into 'gathering of the social,' as Starfire would put. I don't want her to be more alone because of what I'm doing. You and I know that without me here to annoy the living buhjesus out of her to join us with parties and stuff, she could return to how she was when we first met: creepy."_

_As Beast Boy mentioned this, the two boys look at each other and lightly chuckle amongst themselves._

"_Beast Boy, why are you telling me this?" Robin stated a few minutes later. "Why not tell someone else? Maybe someone like Raven, since she is obviously more involved than I."_

"_Well to be honest Robin… You're the team leader. You're like the head of the family. So I kinda figured that you're the best person to tell since you're the boss." Beast Boy chuckles sheepishly as he places both of his hands behind his head. "Plus," Beast Boy places his hands in his pockets. "I figured I gota tell someone else that I'm leaving instead of leaving without a word. Might look worse like that. Might as well have one person know the truth than everyone guessing… ya know what I mean?"_

"_Yeah, I guess…" Robin reluctantly agrees._

"_If they're going to listen to someone, it would most likely be you, dude…"_

_Beast Boy turns around suddenly and starts heading towards the sliding doors at the head of the common room. All of a sudden Robin starts to feel a pit starting to form in his stomach. He then notices that there is a large gym bag that had articles of clothing protruding from it, sitting next to the doors._

"_But I will promise one thing:" Beast Boy turns around and faces Robin, with tears forming in his eyes. "I will be back." Beast Boy then turns from Robin, places his communicator on the kitchen table, picks up his bag then walks through the sliding doors without looking back._

_-End Flashback-_

As Nightwing reminisces about the past, he absentmindedly moves towards the glass windows and smashes both of his fists onto them, causing the other figure in the room to turn their head towards him. As he turns around to face his fellow comrades he notices that only one other person was in the room with him: Raven.

As Raven sat on one of the chairs in the dining room, she looks at Nightwing with sad eyes.

_It's been 3 whole years… today… _Raven thought to herself. She looks away from Nightwing and slowly takes small sips from her tea that she held in her two hands. She enjoyed the warm sensation it gave her when she was holding it in her hands, especially when it went down her throat. It helped her wake up in the mornings as well as keeping her relaxed.

But she already knew, no matter how much tea she had today, it won't help her with the loss of _her_ Beast Boy, _her _Garfield. As she stares at her cup of tea, she slowly zones out as she remembers, for the up tenth time, the events that conspired _that_ night…

_-Flashback-_

_As Raven tossed and turned in her bed, she groggily turns her body to her nightstand in which held her alarm clock. In bright red numbers it read: 4:57 AM. She groans loudly as the realization hit her that she normally wouldn't be awake for another two and a half hours. Knowing that she can't sleep anymore, she figures that a nice hot cup of tea would be just the thing to help her relax. But as she was slowly becoming more awake, something felt like something was… off._

_As she slowly slid out of bed wearing a rather provocative set of purple/black bra and panties, she slid on her normal attire consisting of her leotard and cloak. As she clasped on her cloak she slowly walked out of her room and headed towards the kitchen where she hoped that whatever she was feeling at the moment would be subdued by her nice hot cup of tea. But as she slowly neared the common room she sensed that whatever that was nagging her before was much more intense now._

_As she slowed down her walk to a crawl, she could feel Robin's presence in the common room. _Why is Robin up at this hour? _ Raven questioned herself._ Shouldn't he be asleep or at least obsessing over last week's break-out from one of Jump City's maximum prisons?

_Raven couldn't exactly put her finger on it but she knew something was definitely wrong about him. Not only was he there and not obsessing over different villains that had recently escaped, she sensed that he was in complete shock. She could feel him being helpless, being stunned and being completely angry at himself. _

Well, him being angry at himself is no different but the others… something isn't right. _ As Raven concluded this, she then entered the common room to figure out why there was so much negative energy being released._

_She walks into the common room slowly and looks towards her left to find the Boy Wonder sitting on the couch. As she strolls up lightly behind him, she notices that he was sitting in the center of the couch, looking out towards the slowly rising sun and a small black box behind him, on the rim of the couch. Ignoring the small object briefly, she stops behind Robin, noticing that he doesn't sense her presence. He must be concentrating on something and whatever it was, it made him extremely sad, hurt and helpless._

"_Robin…" Raven whispers._

_When she whispered his name, Robin suddenly jumps up from the couch being completely startled._

"_Oh Raven… Hey, what's up?" Robin's attempt at trying to act like nothing was going on, failing._

"_Robin, you of all people should know that I'm the one to ask you that." Raven deadpanned. "So, what are you doing up… still? And what's bothering you? You don't normally seem this out of whack unless Slade's back…"_

"…" _Robin just continues to stare out into the ocean, seemingly to not have heard Raven's questions._

"_Robin…"_

"_Beast Boy left." Robin interjected._

"_He left? You mean he went out to do something?" Raven arched her eyebrow in an attempt to figure out what the green Titan would do at this ungodly hour. "But it's so early in the morning… why would he…"_

"_Raven… he didn't leave to go somewhere and come back later… He _left_." Robin deadpanned back._

_Robin then got up from the couch and walked around the U shaped furniture to stand beside his fellow teammate. After a few minutes of silence Raven finally registered what he meant._

"_What do you mean Beast Boy _left!" Raven erupted.

"_I don't know, Raven." Robin lied. "I was having trouble sleeping and came into the common room and figured if I watched some lame late night movies, I could fall asleep easier. Then Beast Boy came into the room and said he was leaving…"_

_Raven couldn't believe what she was hearing. As she was faced with this reality she could feel tears start to form. Knowing there was nothing she can do to stop them, she didn't try._

"_Wha- But, why- How could- I mean-…" Raven was stammering in disbelief._

"_I don't know, Raven. All I know is that he said, 'I have to go because of personal things,' and then he told me – more like commanded me to…" Robin reached down and picked up the small black box and handed it to Raven. "He told me to give you this and for me to not to open it."_

_Raven looked at the small object and then back to Robin. Unsure of what it is and even unsure of what it contained, she hesitantly reached out and took the small device from his hands. As she took the object from Robin's hand, Robin walked away slowly heading towards the kitchen. As he reached his destination, the fridge, he retrieved a carton of milk, filling a glass and settling himself down at one of the chairs that were in the kitchen._

"_I- He-" Raven could barely formulate words albeit a sentence. "I need to be alone." Without looking at Robin, her eyes still transfixed on the small object in her hands, she phases through the floor to suddenly appear within the confines of her room._

_Thousands of questions were erupting in her head but the most prominent one being: 'why?' As she slowly made her way across her room, her cloak lightly fell to floor without a sound as it was unclasped from her uniform. She sits down on her bed and just stares at the small device in her hands. As she starts to get a grip of what happened, she looks down at the object and she starts to notice little details about it._

_What she held in her hands was a long rectangular black box. On the top was an engraved '_C J_' which she knew stood for _Custom Jewelers Enterprises _because of the way the letters was scripted. Knowing all too well that whatever was inside the container, it was most likely a necklace of sorts. As she undid the lock that was keeping the box closed, she opens it to find a small note covering the necklace. As she picks up the note, choosing to read it after she's examined the other contents within the box, what she saw made her want to cry even harder._

_What lay before her was a simple but yet beautiful necklace. The lace of the necklace was gunmetal black and was so thin it looked as if you rubbed two fingers together with that at its center; it could break it in a snap. She notices that the pendant that was attached to the necklace was a raven made out of jade. But not just any raven, it was Raven's 'signature' raven. The ravens' wing was completely open with the head looking straight up with its mouth open. When she takes a closer look at the pendant, she notices that the one eye, the claws and the talons all have a triangular shaped dark red gemstone._

_Then when she gazes towards the center of the raven she notices one last feature: a heart-shaped dark purple amethyst for a heart. All in all it was beautiful to her. She took it out of the case and held it in her hands as if it were the most precious thing in her possession. In reality, it really was the most precious thing to her now. As she eyed the priceless jewelry that lay in her hands, she turns her attention to the note that was messily folded. As she opens the note, she now consciously notices the tears that were flowing freely from her eyes._

_She also notices that a few objects within her room were encased in a dark aura, her dark aura, and was flying about the room. She paid no attention as she doesn't care about showing her emotions. If there was one day in which she needed to show her true emotions, today was that day. As she finished unfolding the rather long note, she braced herself for the worst._

'Raven,

Hey… What's up? Hehe, I guess you can say I don't really know how to start this thing but I guess here goes nothing. You're probably wondering why I left and why I gave you this necklace. I'm sorry but I just can't tell you why I left. I know there are a thousand things going through your mind right now and probably will hate my guts for the rest of your life. I don't blame you, honestly. But hear me out.

I left because of personal reasons and I'll explain everything to you if I can solve this… problem that I'm having. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can to explain myself and if you still choose to hate me, again, I can't blame you. But as for the necklace, there are a lot of reasons as to why I'm giving it to you:

Main reason is because I figured, since I like you and everything, this would be a good 'first gift' to give you. Ya know? Like you don't have to wear it or anything if you don't like it but I figured… you might like it since you don't normally wear jewelry and yeah…

Oh and it may look really weak… I forgot the word I was going to use… It was something like fra- something. Anyways, I figured since we're always in battles and kicking bad guy butt, I thought it would be smart to get it reinforced and have other stuff done to it so it's like uber strong. It can take a real beating. Oh and the stone thingy in the middle… forgot what that was called too… I read somewhere that it can like store energy or something? I don't know if it's true but that would be sweet, eh? Heh…

Well, I hope you like it and wear it. It would mean a lot to me if you did wear it and I saw it on you when I get back.

I'm really sorry Raven, for disappearing so suddenly but I feel as if this is what I need to do. And I'm sorry I can't tell you why just yet. Just please, promise me something: please join the others when they do stuff… I know that's normally my job but yeah… And please make sure you take care of yourself? Ya hear me? Anyways, I gota go… See ya later, Rae.

Love,

Garfield Mark Logan

P.S. – 12172002*'

_As Raven finished reading the note, she slightly starts to crumple the small piece of paper in her hands as she felt an uncontrollable amount of tears forming behind her eyes._

_-End Flashback-_

Raven vowed, that day that she was going to wear it every day and made sure she kept it as good condition as she could. Plus, it was beautiful and it was the last thing Beast Boy left. It was too important to her for her to not wear it.

As she slowly starts to return to the present she notices that it's nearing 9:30 AM and found that she and Robin are no longer alone. She notices Starfire in the kitchen, cooking some type of Tameranian dish that only God knows if it's safe to eat.

_Three years…_ She thought to herself.

Within those three years, she noticed a lot of changes within her teammates, her friends, her family.

Suddenly the doors slide open revealing a rather tired Cyborg waltzing into the common room. As she watched the Tin Man walk across the room she begins to notice the changes within the half man half robot.

He probably changed the least in the past few years, physically of course. But then again, how can he change besides a few upgrades here and there? He was still the oldest and tallest of the Titans. The tall and built African American still towered above everyone else at six feet four inches. He physically looked extremely built but overall, he looked the same except for a few small details here and there. But mentally, he was a changed man.

Now at 25, the big man before them was much more reserved than his younger self. Of course he's still a car enthusiast as well as an avid and competitive gamer, but ever since Beast Boy left, he just wasn't the same. No one was. He was much more insightful now. Whenever there was an argument amongst us, he would always try and be the peacekeeper and always tried to be the ideal big brother. Ever since he lost his youngest brother, it made him realize how much the little grass-stain meant to him.

So every chance Cyborg got, he would try and make sure everything was copacetic. If someone looked as if he or she was having an issue, he was right on the balls of his feet, offering his hand. He figured that if he knew more about why Beast Boy left; there might've been something he could've done to stop him. But thus, this didn't happen. He blamed himself a lot when Beast Boy left. He felt as if he might've been too hard on the poor Green Bean. He knew better than to think that he drove the vegan away but one can't help but blame thyself for losing someone important to them.

Raven gazes from Cyborg back to Starfire. She's changed a bit in the last years as well. She was physically the same height as before but more filled out. Her attire still consisted of her Tameranian two-piece but was less suggestive than the pair she wore when she was younger.

Starfire, now 23, still had her flaming red hair long and still as cheery as ever. She's now the second shortest of the Titans at five feet ten inches. She still has some trouble with the English language but has greatly improved as the years progressed. She still gets a lot of figure of speech type sayings mixed up. Every day, she makes sure that she does everything within her power to make sure everyone was happy. Raven doesn't think Starfire could handle another loss, like Beast Boy.

_I know for sure that I wouldn't be able to handle it._

She as well thought she could've done something to help prevent the green comedian from leaving. Ever since his departure, she would have nightmares from time to time about the time she chased Warp into the future. She would relive and remember the events that happened when she disappeared for 20 years. She vividly remembers seeing Cyborg old and immobilized in the Tower and Raven locking herself in a blindingly bright room all by herself. She also vowed that she would do everything in her power to make sure everyone was as optimistic as possible.

She turns her attention to the ex-Traffic Light.

Nightwing, now 24, was the second tallest member of the Titans towering at six feet. His attire completely changed from "Traffic Light" to jet black suit with blue streaks that went from the middle of his chest, around his neck to his shoulders then down the front of his arms. He still wore a mask but instead of being primarily white, it's now black. He was the same old Robin: obsessive about Slade, always putting the city and work before everything else. He changed his hairstyle from primarily being spikey to letting it fall down naturally; giving him a more mature look. He was fairly built compared to his younger counterpart but not like Cyborg. He was considered very well built but not hunky.

He would often be found practicing on a punching bag, stretching on the wrestling mats, or doing some kind of aerobic-intense exercises when he isn't training with the rest of the team on the training field. But when he isn't exercising making sure he was at the peak of his physical strength he would either be out with Starfire at "the mall of shopping," gaming it hard with Cyborg on the latest Game Station, or with Raven. He would normally try and consult with Raven, normally talking to her about two main things: what he should do with Starfire, whether it was a date or just what he should do next time he and her hung out, or keeping his word with Beast Boy; making sure she was included in everything they did.

Finally, she turns her attention to herself. She hasn't changed that much physically but mentally, she probably changed the most. Raven, now the youngest member at 23, was the shortest of all the Titans at five feet six inches with long hair that reached well beyond her lower back. Her hair resembled the same style as when she defeated her father, Trigon the Terrible. She had an even more hourglass type figure than before and her attire hasn't changed that much.

She still wore her signature leotard and cloak but her leotard now showed off her cleavage for specifically one purpose: so the necklace she wore would be visible to everyone. She wanted to make sure that if and when Beast Boy would return, it would represent how much he truly meant to her. Also, her attire would occasionally change colors from her usual black and blue to pure white, depending on a number of circumstances.

Her "pure" or "untainted" form was usually noted as her more powerful form. When she "transforms" into her white self, she is at her most primal, significant and powerful version of herself. It was also a form of inner purity: showing one that she is no longer being dominated by her fathers' evil power and also a sign of peace or true happiness. Her emotions can cause her attire to change colors if she were truly happy and at peace with herself but it doesn't have that much of an effect compared to her need for more power.

Mentally she was a changed person. She still held the façade of bitter sarcasm but was more light-hearted about it. She would sometimes joke around but only on rare occasions. She also showed a bit more comfort around her family than before and sometimes would join her friends with "fun" activities. Even though she was no longer as heavily bound to suppressing her emotions, the idea was still foreign to her.

Having been brought up to not only having to suppress emotions for fear of them wreaking havoc, but also knowing that she would not live beyond her 17th birthday, was a concept that was tough to overcome. Even though she is currently less restricted to showing her emotions, she can't let it go unchecked. She can express things here and there but if she were to be careless and let herself feel everything, the results can still be devastating. Her powers are still rooted to her emotions and there's nothing that can change that.

Even with that said she still tries her best to better herself every day. Raven would try and experience newer things that she hadn't experienced before: like letting herself giggle and laugh lightly with her friends and show a bit more enthusiasm when it came to celebrations. She promised herself when Beast Boy returned she would make sure to experience _everything_ with him.

She takes a quick glance towards the first and currently only Titans couple and can't help but feel envious. Raven knew that Nightwing and Starfire had a thing with each other, way before the incidents that happened in Tokyo. After all she could read most peoples' emotions and minds like the back of her hand. She's watched the couple from a distance and noticed, over the years, how their relationship flourished.

Nightwing would still, from time to time, be a knucklehead and sometimes put his job before his girlfriend. But he was getting better at it. They would show displays of affection around the Tower and only recently been revealing it in the public. They tend to be physically attached to one another whenever they had the chance to. When the Titans were to go out to get pizza, they would be holding hands. When they were having their annual "movie nights" within the confines of the Tower, they would be cuddling on the couch.

_How I wish someone would hold and feel that way about me…_ Raven thought. She still had the mentality of not needing someone in a romantic sense. She was still unwilling to admit, even to herself, that there was still one person who thought otherwise. She highly doubted the green man looked at her in any way that was considered romantic. Raven doesn't do romantic. And yet, here she is, being envious of the couple in front of her.

Unaware to the other Titans, the green man meant much more to her than what she reveals. They slowly started to bond and grow upon each other steadily after the incident in Tokyo. During their times together, it was then that they slowly learned to understand one another. He revealed his past to her and vice versa. He got to understand her and got her to open up to him more while she became more tolerant of her fellow teammate and slowly came to realize how mature he can really be. She came to conclude that he was the one person in her entire life who wanted to see her happy and smiling albeit risking his own wellbeing in the process.

"Hey Raven," Raven was suddenly snapped out of her trance and focused on the voice that was trying to get her attention.

"What's up Cyborg? You need something?" Raven asked, regaining her composure.

"Nah, was just wondering if you wanted brunch or something…" Raven arched her eyebrow questioningly at her older brother. She then turned her attention to the clock that was on the nearest microwave and noticed it read: 11:16 AM.

"I'm not really hungry Cy. I'll grab a bite later."

"Ya sure, Raven?" Cyborg pushed. "Well as long as you're around for lunch. It's going to be a meat lovers' paradise with bacon, ribs, burgers…"

Raven chuckles lightly. "Sure thing Cyborg, but until then, I'm going to head to my room to meditate for a bit." Raven slowly got up from the kitchen chair and glided towards the set of sliding doors that lead to her bedroom. As she got near enough to the doors sensors, they quickly opened and shut behind her.

Unbeknownst to the others, she wasn't heading to her room like she told Cyborg she was. Ever since Beast Boy's sudden departure, she's been spending some of her own personal time in _his_ room. Since both Beast Boy's and Raven's rooms were located on the same floor, she took a left turn that headed towards Beast Boy's room instead of the right that lead to hers. As she neared the large sliding doors which had "Beast Boy" engraved on it, she punched in the passkey to unlock them: 12172002*

This was her weekly routine: Raven would sometimes wander into Beast Boy's room about once a week to meditate but would mainly go there to reminisce about him. She could still remember the first time she went into his room; the day that he left.

_-Flashback-_

_As Raven clutched onto the pendant that was wrapped loosely around her neck, she glided towards the persons' room that gave her it. As she neared the sliding doors she noticed the keypad that was next to his door. Looking closely at it she saw the digital message that displayed: Locked. She then remembered the note that Beast Boy gave her, which was securely hidden in an inner pocket on her cloak. Taking it out, she reread his note and remembered his Post Script; which read: 12172002*._

"_I wonder…" Raven thought out loud._

_She hesitantly touched the keypad, punching in the code slowly resulting in a computerized voice saying: 'Access Granted.' As the doors hissed open she slowly stepped into foreign territory._

_The very first thing that she noticed upon entering his room was the fact that it was clean. It was evident that he cleaned his room right before his departure._

"_He probably cleaned the place up in case something were to grow and mutate in his absence." Raven concluded, chuckling lightly to herself._

_As she entered deeper into Beast Boy's domain, she could hear the lights automatically switch on and the door closing quietly behind her. To her immediate left she could see that there were dumbbells and a small mat in the corner of the room, signifying a small workout area. Then to the far left corner of the room she saw his bunk bed with lacerations here and there from when he turned into the Beast. Next to his bunk bed was a nightstand with a small table light and an alarm clock. Then to her immediate right she saw a bookshelf with hundreds of different kinds of comic books._

"_Well, it may not be books but at least he's reading something." She mused._

_Then to the far right corner of his room was a nice wooden desk with various objects on top of it. She started walking closer to his desk to get a closer look at what the contents were that were laid upon the desk. She retracted the chair that matched the desk and sat down on it silently. As she sat down she noticed that the most prominent objects were the picture frames and giant wall picture frames that was placed above the table._

_As she looked up, what she saw was a blown up article of when the Titans were first recognized by the city of Jump. It was a large group photo when they first worked together to take down Cinderblock when he tried to break out of jail and succeeded. When they finally subdued the villain the press was all over them. Congratulating them on their success as well as welcoming them to Jump City. The mayor was also present, welcoming them with open arms and thanking them for saving them from Cinderblock. It was their first public appearance and acceptance in Jump City._

_She gazed back down to the table top and found picture frames at the two farthest corners of the table. What the picture frames held didn't surprise her one bit. They were photos taken after the Tower was finish being built and started moving in. The last one was the entire team sitting on the couches in the common room. Everyone had a relaxed nature to them as they all sat comfortably in their "sections" of the couch._

_She remembered every single one of these photos for one main reason: this was her new life. These photos signified, for everyone else as well, a change in their lives. This was a time period in which strangers from across the universe, and in her case: across dimensions, where they went from outcasts, deserters and prisoners to becoming acquaintances and ultimately a family; a time where negativity for each member of the Titans; a time where they finally found solitude and acceptance with not only each other but within themselves. They all found a new place in which they could call it their home._

_A tear slowly fell down her face as she remembered those times. She slowly got up from the table and walked towards the bunk bed. She already knew that Beast Boy primarily slept on the top bunk because he mentioned once that it was an animal thing. He stated that animals that had the ability to climb would climb high to avoid predators._

"_An animal thing, indeed."_

_Instead of climbing the rather small ladder to the top of the bunk bed, she summoned her powers and levitated herself to the top. Upon taking her first step onto his top bunk she couldn't help but feel a bit adolescent._

"_Heh, if I were some normal teenage girl, if I didn't know any better, I would probably be giggling like mad about being in a boy's bed."_

But then again it's Beast Boy's bed… _She thought to herself._

_As she gently floated down onto his top bunk, she sat Indian style and closed her eyes. She was focusing her mind. She evened her breathing, as she started chanting her mantra. She felt nostalgic when she went into Beast Boy's room. It put her at ease but at the same time brought her a slight pain. Having to remember that he was no longer there, was a burden she had to bear._

_As she felt fresh tears at the brim of her eyes she laid her head down on his pillow, hoping it would help calm her down. She closed her eyes and took a long breath in, helping her static breathing become more regular. As she practiced her breathing exercises, she couldn't help but he able to take in Beast Boy's scent. As she focused her mind on the unique scent, all she could differentiate was Beast Boy's natural musk and a slight minty scent._

_The nostalgic aroma filled her senses as she calmed down. As she shifted her head so she was lying on the pillow with the side of her head, she couldn't help but feel something rather stiff. She got up, slightly irritated with the fact that she was rather comfortable and enjoying Beast Boy's scent, and lifted the pillow to find yet another picture frame. But the picture frame was placed upside down._

_Curiously, she grabbed the rectangular object and flipped it around to see who it was. To her surprise it was a photograph of her. But it wasn't just her, off to the bottom right of the picture frame held an even smaller image. It was of a man and woman in white lab coats. She assumed it was the last photograph he had of his parents._

_As she eyed the picture frame more closely, she noticed on the bottom left of the image there was a message scribbled. It read:_

"Everything."

_-End Flashback-_

As she rose up to the top bunk, as she did every week, she grabbed the picture frame from underneath the pillow and held it in her hands. She absentmindedly started to stroke the image with her thumb as she remembered Beast Boy. Every time she was reminded that he had a photo of her underneath his pillow, it put a warm and fuzzy sensation in her chest. Making her feel better regardless of what happened that day. It was her perfect escape.

As she was reminiscing about the past, the Titans alarms suddenly started blaring. She hurriedly stashed the picture frame back from where she took it and quickly rushed out of Beast Boy's room. She entered the common room quickly and stood amongst her teammates.

All heads turned towards Nightwing as he accessed the nearest terminal to determine what was currently happening. After a few seconds of waiting and a few keystroked later, the fearless leader turns to face his comrades.

"Alright, here's the situation: Cinderblock and Overload are currently breaking into one of Jump City's maximum security prisons. Fair guess is that they're releasing their fellow convicts. Alright, Titans, Go!"

As their leader cried out his usual mantra, everyone sprang into action. Nightwing and Cyborg both dashed towards the garage while Starfire flew out of the nearest window. As Raven prepared a portal that lead outside, she suddenly stops. She stands still and as she's alone in the common room she senses something. Something in the back of her mind told her that this… feeling was strange. She could only slightly feel its presence and yet it felt nostalgic but also ominous at the same time. Shaking her head and putting it to the farthest corners of her mind, she figured the problem at hand was a more pressing matter.

_I'll try and figure this out later; I have to focus with the task at hand._ She reasoned with herself. She then summoned her powers and teleported herself outside to regroup with Starfire.

"Ok team, listen up. We still have yet to ascertain the reasons behind all of these escape attempts but we sure as hell know that we can't keep these things from happening." As Nightwing formulated a strategy and relaying it to his fellow teammates, everyone's focus seems to be on the mission, aside from a certain Azerathian. She knew the strategy in which they'll be using to face Cinderblock and Overload but that presence was still nagging her in the back of her mind. Shaking her head in frustration, she tries to ignore it.

When they arrived at the entrance of the prison, they noticed that the main gates that lead into the prison were completely destroyed. The four-man team slowly entered the courtyard and as they ventured further, they could hear in the distance, a low and heavy thudding noise. When they got close enough, they saw the distinct outlines of the two villains: Cinderblock and Overload.

"Yo!" Cyborg screamed, getting the villains' attention. "Do you guys ever get tired of doing the same things over and over?" Both Cinderblock and Overload screeched their battle cries and charged the Titans at full force.

While the battle commenced within the courtyard, the four-man team was split into two smaller teams: Cyborg and Raven versus Cinderblock and Nightwing and Starfire versus Overload. As the battle ensues it was evidently clear to the Titans that both Cinderblock and Overload were not going to give up without a fierce fight. The continuing battle raged on lasting almost thirty minutes.

As Nightwing charged towards Overload, head on once again, both exhausted from the intense battle, he takes out his Bo staff in one hand while wielding three explosive disks in between his fingers in the other hand. Nightwing throws the disks at Overload in hopes of hitting him dead in the face. But just as the disks were about to hit their mark, Overload brings up his hands to his face to shield him from the explosion that rattles against his hands and arms. Nightwing then takes his Bo staff quickly and successfully land hit after hit against Overload's body. With Overload's body exposed and being pelted by Nightwing's lightning fast strikes, he didn't have time to notice Starfire, as she dives down from the sky.

Suddenly, Nightwing backs off from his assault on Overload and retreats back to a safe distance, as Starfire comes diving down from the sky. Overload, noticing Nightwing back down, faltered slightly, waiting to see what the masked hero was going to do next. Suddenly Starfire, her fists covered with pulsing green energy, pummels Overload into the ground with a thunderous explosion. As the dust clouds slowly start to dissipate, in the midst of the scene, there was a newly formed crater that was the size of a large car. At the very center of the small crater stood Starfire, her eyes glowing green with power, holding the Overload's disk in her hands signifying his defeat.

As Nightwing and Starfire turn around to regroup with their fellow comrades they notice Cyborg and Raven having a tougher time with Cinderblock.

When they reached their friends they noticed how tired the two heroes were. They were battered, a bit bloody and panting. Sweat covered their brows and dirt covered their faces.

"How you guys hanging?"

"We're alright for now, Nightwing." Cyborg replied. "But he's starting to be a real pain in my ass!" Cyborg retorted, readying his sonic cannon.

"Yeah, he's being a real bitch." Raven added. Her outfit then started to glow lightly as her attire slowly changed from her normal black and blue to a pure white.

As Cyborg aims his sonic cannon, he notices that he finally has a clear shot at the giant human boulder. He aims and fires his cannon straight for Cinderblock's right knee. A second later, the blue energy makes contact with his target making Cinderblock lose his balance. With him down onto one knee, Raven summons her energy and forms a claw. She releases her claw from her hand and guides it towards Cinderblock's chest. As the black energy soars through the air, Nightwing, being carried by Starfire, was soon thrown with superhuman strength towards Cinderblock.

As Nightwing soared through the air he quickly goes into his utility belt and takes out his Bo staff once again. Nightwing strikes Cinderblock's head with the additional force from the momentum of Starfire's throw. Cinderblock was knocked backwards from the force of the blow and becomes slightly airborne. But just as his body left the ground, Raven's claw soars in and collides with Cinderblock's chest, sending him across the courtyard into a nearby wall. The resulting impact caused an eruption of dust and debris thanks to the one-two punch strategy.

As the Titan's neared Cinderblocks location, Cinderblock suddenly emerges from the dust clouds with rage in his eyes. Cyborg and Nightwing were so close to Cinderblock when he charged them, they didn't have enough time to react. Just as Cinderblock was about to make contact on the two heroes, Raven's claw suddenly emerged from behind and again collides into Cinderblock's chest. He was sent flying backwards again but as he collided with the wall, an enormous fireball erupted. Cinderblock hit the wall with such force that he made contact with a gas pipe and ruptured the metal casing, causing the gas to be released and ignited.

The explosion was enormous and caused the Titans to be blown back from the shockwave. But the Titans were not the only ones that were blown back from the resulting fireball. Cinderblock was also launched from the wall due to the massive explosion, resulting in him landing near Raven. Raven, being almost completely knocked out from the combination of the explosion and fatigue, lay there with her eyes half open. As she tried to get up her outfit started to fade from the pure white pigment to her normal black and blue color.

As the other Titan's regained consciousness, they notice Cinderblock regaining consciousness as well. The three other Titans, stumbling in the process, rushed over to help aid in their fallen comrade. But they soon realized they were too far away to assist her. As Cinderblock rose, he towered over Raven's body, casting a shadow over her. Cinderblock then raised both of his massive fists, using whatever energy he had left to deliver the final blow.

Just as Cinderblocks hands started to descend upon Raven, she heard her teammates cry out her name. She braced herself as the inescapable attack came crashing down.

* * *

*This date was the date in which the episode _Go!_ was aired in the United States. The actual date was December 17th, 2005, but will be altered to fit the timeline and settings of this story. [December 17, 2002] {Beast Boy: 13 Raven: 14 Starfire: 14 Robin: 15 Cyborg: 16 – Date in which the Titan's first met.}

December 17, 2002 [12172002] will be the date in which the Titans first encountered one another for this story. The corresponding ages during said time frame are listed above. Currently used as Beast Boy's passkey to his room.

A/N: Hope it was enjoyable and hope I don't get too many flames... but then again I'll have a continuous flame to keep my tea nice and hot. Please read and review =]

-Roldy


	2. Chapter 1: His Return

Disclaimers: I do not own Teen Titans nor do I claim to own anything in this story.

A/N: As you are all probably aware, the Prologue chapter was rather depressing. Well hopefully when you read this new chapter, it'll lighten up your spirits. I also plan on trying to update every 1-2 weeks, depending on if my schedule allows me to. Also, please forgive any grammatical errors and other errors that might occur at the end of this chapter: my friend that helps me edit has been unusually quiet so please, bear with me. And thank you, the people who left their reviews. It helps me gain motivation to write more. So please, leave a review or two, I promise it won't go over looked. Thank you.

Hope you all enjoy this next installment of Evolution: Times of Change.

* * *

_Previously on Evolution: Times of Change:_

_As the other Titan's regained consciousness, they notice Cinderblock regaining consciousness as well. The three other Titans, stumbling in the process, rushed over to help aid in their fallen comrade. But they soon realized they were too far away to assist her. As Cinderblock rose, he towered over Raven's body, casting a shadow over her. Cinderblock then raised both of his massive fists, using whatever energy he had left to deliver the final blow._

_Just as Cinderblocks hands started to descend upon Raven, she heard her teammates cry out her name. She braced herself as the inescapable attack came crashing down._

* * *

Evolution: Times of Change – Chapter 1: His Return

Nightwing, Starfire and Cyborg watch in horror as Cinderblocks fists came crashing down on Raven. As Cinderblocks fists made contact with its target, the area erupted with debris and dust. The Titans could only watch in horror as they witness the bone-shattering destruction. They felt the shockwave from the sudden attack about a hundred feet away and all of them stopped dead in their tracks. They all held their breath, awaiting the outcome of the aftermath, but they all knew it was futile to hope.

Raven suddenly felt a huge pressure wave pass through her as Cinderblock's fists came crashing down. She shut her eyes tightly, not wanting to watch the fists come barreling down onto her body. Suddenly the area around her erupted as dust and debris was flying in every direction. She was waiting for the unimaginable amount of pain that she would inevitably feel. But it never came.

She was waiting for any sign that she was terribly injured. Any sign that showed she was on the brink of death; any sign that signified that she took a tremendous blow; any acknowledgement that she was even hurt. But it never came. As she released her breath, she took in dust that was still lingering in the air and as a result, she started to lightly cough.

The other three Titans watched in horror as the dust settles. But they were taken back by the perplexed look that was on Cinderblock's face. As the visibility was becoming clearer, there was suddenly a shape of an object, a person, a being standing underneath his massive fists.

Raven slowly opened her eyes to see a dusty outline of a figure. As the light starts to shine through the dust cloud, it revealed a man standing nonchalant above her. No, it wasn't a man, it was a… creature. The other Titans gasped and were speechless at the spectacle before them.

Underneath Cinderblock's massive fists stood a tall, massive creature, clad in a very rundown and faded brown trench coat. The creature had its right arm above its head and its left hand in his pocket acting very casual. As Raven opened her eyes fully, now being able to see clearly in the dust-free air, she glanced upwards, towards her saviors eyes. Cinderblock raised his fists and looks down, questioning at the thing that stopped his killer blow. Without Cinderblock's massive fists casting a dark shadow on the figure, the creature was soon exposed under the high-noon sunlight. The thing then suddenly takes his hand that blocked Cinderblock's attack and takes off its coat revealing its true identity.

As the sun's rays pierced through the clouds, illuminating the hulking creature that saved Raven's life. The light revealed his massively built green body, green hair and a rather familiar looking smirk upon its face. Even with his back towards Raven, she didn't need to see his front as she knew this creature already. Raven could only breathe out one word; one word that meant the whole world to her:

"Garfield…" Raven gasped.

Cinderblock slowly started backing away, complete disbelief and shock was plastered on his face.

As the Beast slowly straightened, having slightly crouched from the recent blow, it revealed his true height. Towering at an amazing eight feet two inches, his size helps represent that he is not to be trifled with. Suddenly his form shrank down and his features started to resemble a human as the Beast transformed back into Beast Boy.

Beast Boy physically has changed the most over the last three years. As he stood in the center of the crater, knees slightly bent, ready to take action when it occurred, everyone got a good eye of the new Beast Boy. What stood before them was no longer the rather thin and lanky green vegan they knew all too well.

Now standing in the crater was this six foot tall green man who still resembled the old grass stain. He was literally head to head with Nightwing but his build was much leaner. He wasn't bulky like Nightwing. Instead he was leaner and much more dense looking. It looked as if he was physically fit but still looked as tough as steel. On top of his head sat a thick green mesh of hair that was completely wild and unkempt.

Beast Boy then readied himself, bringing his arms from his sides to a fighting stance. He glances back at the stunned sorceress and flashes his all too familiar grin.

"Why, hey there, Rae," Beast Boy spoke softly. His voice was gentle but firm at the same time, holding a sense of command in his tone. His eyes softened as he gazed upon her and chuckled to himself softly. His voice wasn't squeaky like it used to be. Now it was a bit deeper and richer. "It's been a while. Hasn't it?"

Beast Boy then shifts his glance towards Cinderblock who was taking the current situation to gather his strength. Looking back at Raven, his stance softens as he turns around and suddenly morphs into a leopard. He then crawls underneath Raven, lifts her up with his body and ran in the opposite direction of the other Titans and Cinderblock. When they reached a good 100 feet away from the crater Cinderblock created, trying to kill Raven, he changed back into his normal form.

While holding her bridal style, he gently places her down on the ground, her back against the prison walls.

"Forgive me but I have to finish off this oversized brick." Beast Boy gestured behind him with his thumb. Without a moment's hesitation Beast Boy transformed into the Beast once again and he disappeared in a flash. He reappeared a split second later, his right arm outstretched towards Cinderblock's face. Then there was a thunderous roar as the Beast's hand collided into Cinderblocks face, lifting him up slightly and sent him crashing down into the concrete floor.

Cinderblock's feet were in the air while his head and upper body was a few feet under the surface. The Beast turned around and faced towards his former teammates. Morphing into a falcon, Beast Boy soared into the air towards them. The falcon transformed into Beast Boy as he graciously landed in front of the other three Titans.

"Hey, Robin. Star. Cy." Beast Boy waved awkwardly.

"It's Nightwing now." Nightwing deadpanned.

"Oh, sorry dude, but now isn't the time for time-to-yell-at-Beast-Boy-because-of-what-he-did." Beast Boy retorted. "You guys look pretty banged up so take care of the prison people who are trying to escape…" Beast Boy gestured towards the men and women clad in orange jumpsuits running rampant across the courtyard. "And I'll take care of those _two_." Beast Boy suddenly changed into a gorilla and charged towards the Titans.

"'Those two'?" Cyborg questioned on. "What does he mean by –" Before Cyborg could finish his sentence, Beast Boy in gorilla form pushed past Cyborg and collided with something directly behind him and the other Titans. Cyborg suddenly felt something slimy hit the back of his head. Upon inspection he discovered that whatever hit him and his teammates was a purplish brown substance that was completely rank.

When the three other Titans looked back, they saw a green gorilla battling it off with Plasmus.

"…!... Oh!" The three said in unison. As they finally registered what he meant, they sprang back into action, taking down and recapturing the prisons' convicts, leaving the heavy lifting to Beast Boy; at least for the time being.

Cinderblock, biding his time with the currently distracted Titans, slowly got up and as quietly as a human boulder can, slipped into the shadows of the inner sanctums of the prison complex to recuperate.

As Nightwing and Starfire slowly and efficiently recaptured the escaping convicts, Cyborg helped reestablish power and connectivity with the prisons security system. Raven, on the other hand, was slowly coming to grips with the current situation. The situation being Overload, Cinderblock, Plasmus _and_ Beast Boy were all on prison grounds. As she pondered as to why so many of their well-known villains were all located at one spot she also focused on healing herself so she could resume battling.

As the prison guards escorted the last of the recaptured convicts, Nightwing and Starfire quickly regrouped with one another and set out towards the courtyard to once again subdue Plasmus. Along the way, as they headed up in one of the industrial sized elevators, they found Cinderblock trying to access the very same elevator the two other heroes were in. This resulted with the two heroes chasing Cinderblock through the reinforced corridors of the prison.

Raven watched astonished by the scene that was unfolding before her. She watched Beast Boy quickly and flawlessly morph between one animal to the next in quick succession. The way in which he used each of the animals and their strengths was, for a lack of a better term, ingenious. When he morphed into a hummingbird, he used its quick twitch-like movement as well as small figure to easily evade Plasmus' attacks.

Suddenly Beast Boy jumped up and morphed into a falcon and soared into the air. He was gaining altitude quickly and soon disappeared from view. As Raven gazes into the afternoon sky she did not notice Plasmus charging towards her. Taking the advantage of Beast Boy's plight, Plasmus decided to aim his focus at the next target: Raven.

Unbeknownst to Plasmus, as he neared Raven's position, he suddenly notices Raven bringing up a force field of dark energy. Plasmus, assuming it was to protect her against his current attack didn't have time to figure out the real reason as to why she summoned her powers. Next thing Plasmus knew was something very large and heavy hit him with such force that he went from the courtyard to 100 yards underground.

Raven watched as a giant green blue whale come plummeting down from the sky. Knowing the following attack was going to completely decimate the area around her, she summoned as much of her powers to form a shield around her. Successfully surrounding herself in a cocoon of her powers she braced herself as Beast Boy came crashing back down to earth.

The force of the landing was enormous. It created a crater the size of the entire pentagon shaped courtyard that was at least 300 feet per length. Still safe within the confines of her cocoon she slowly let her shields down and started to form a portal to update on Cyborg of what has just conspired.

Nightwing and Starfire chased Cinderblock towards one of the mess halls which the only exit was its entrance. Successfully chasing Cinderblock into a dead end they readied themselves to take Cinderblock on. But suddenly the room erupted as a massive green object came barreling down from above. Starfire quickly grabbed her beloved and dashed out the doors that lead into the mess hall. As they slowly gathered themselves they reopened the doors and looked up, they found a massive tunnel towards the surface. As they looked downwards they could only see smoke, dust and electrical sparks as the tunnel lead farther underground.

Starfire flew down into the massive hole as Nightwing fired a grappling hook onto something solid in the mess hall and slowly descended with Starfire. As they reached the bottom, they found themselves being lowered into a very old sewer system. They were currently standing at the far end of a rather large dome-like structure. Suddenly Raven appeared beside them revealing Cyborg at her side.

As they waited for the dust to clear they saw their green friend standing, panting slightly, about a 100 feet away staring down a tired and battered Plasmus and Cinderblock. However, for some bizarre reason they started to fuse together, resulting in Cimus.

"Awe c'mon!" Beast Boy whined. "Are you freakin' serious? After all that, you two are just going to go ahead and fuse together and make my life harder?" Beast Boy's arms were flailing wildly as he witnessed the event unfold before him.

"Well… at least he didn't change _that _much…" Nightwing whispered to his fellow comrades, resulting in them nodding their heads slightly.

"Hey!" Beast Boy's ears twitched slightly. "I heard that, Bird Brain!"

Refocusing his attention at the task at hand, his composure suddenly changed. As Raven watched from the sidelines, as well as her three other teammates, she sensed a sudden change in the atmosphere. She suddenly felt a bit cold. She felt like something ominous was approaching.

With the newly fused Plasmus and Cinderblock roaring in the distance, Beast Boy only shook his head.

"Well, I guess this has gone on for long enough, don't'cha think?" Beast Boy said to himself.

_**Now it's **_**my**_** turn…**_ A voice replied.

Suddenly Beast Boy's composure changed from a rather relaxed nature to being completely stiff. With his head looking straight up his body started to morph again. His hair grew out, he grew a few feet, his upper body gain a massive amount of muscle, his arms got longer and thicker, his shoulders broader and his legs gained more muscle mass. He transformed back into the Beast.

_Remember Beast, we have a deal._

_**It was no deal, Garfield. It was more of a… mutual understanding that benefits both parties.**_

_Whatever, dude._

The Beast howled, his voice ricocheting off the curved ceiling and reverberating. As Cimus slowly walked towards the Beast the resounding thud from each step could be heard clearly. The Beast's head was still arched upwards ignoring Cimus as he neared. The Beast slowly lowered its head and had his eyes closed. As Cimus took one step closer, the Beast's eye suddenly shot open, staring deathly at his prey.

Suddenly the Beast's eyes started darting up, down and all around, looking quite sickly.

_**Hmm… I think they're just close enough.**_

_Well, want to let them know who they're messing with? _ Beast Boy replied to his alter ego.

_**Let's. **_At the Beast's reply, they sprang into action.

Suddenly the Beast darted straight towards Cimus. The Beast ran towards Cimus with such speed that to the human eye it was more of a blur. But just as he was about to collide head on with Cimus, the Beast sidesteps at the last second and starts to head towards the wall behind him.

The Beast then launches himself towards the wall and curls into a ball. As he neared the wall, his feet jut out from his curled up state, making contact with the wall and suddenly launches himself back towards Cimus. Suddenly all you could see was streaks of green going across the room.

The Beast used the walls to launch himself from wall to wall. In between each launch he struck Cimus using the momentum of his tactic to increase the damage being done to it. He struck again and again, each attack landing successfully against its target causing his foe to stagger where he stood. After a few seconds, landing around 50 hits, the green streaks suddenly disappear and the Beast appears, floating in midair behind Cimus.

The Beast softly lands on the watery surface of the sewer system, facing his friends. As the Beast huffs loudly, he transforms back into Beast Boy. Behind him Cimus wobbles and suddenly fell over. Cinderblock fell forward, away from Beast Boy and the Titans while Plasmus reverted back into human form, falling opposite of Cinderblock. With a resounding thud, the fight at the prison was over.

Coincidentally, where Beast Boy stood was illuminated due to the hole in the ceiling. As he looked over towards his friends, the expressions on their face varied from rage, exasperation and disbelief.

"Go Beast Boy! Go Beast Boy! It's your birthday! It's your birthday." Beast Boy sang to himself. While in the process of congratulating himself he also added a small dance with him shaking his hips in a circular motion. "Who kicks bad guy butt? I do!"

"Yup, still same 'ol Beast Boy." Cyborg exasperated. As Cyborg, Nightwing and Starfire walked up towards Beast Boy, Raven ran passed them towards the changeling.

"Oh yeah, baby! Who's da-"As Beast Boy continued his victory dance, he didn't notice as the half-demon bolted straight towards him, resulting in him being tackled over.

Upon realization that he was just tackled, he looked down to see a head of purple hair resting on his chest. He relaxed a bit and started to hug her back when she suddenly smacked him across the face.

_Thwack! _"Ow!" The changeling yelled. "What the hell was –" Beast Boy's outbursts was suddenly silenced yet again with another slap to his face.

The other Titans watched in bewilderment. Not only was Raven the first one to rush over to the shape shifter but also hugged him first and slapped him twice… in a row.

"T-the hug was f-for saving my life." Raven stuttered, trying to hide her obvious excitement and hatred to see the changeling. "The first slap was for leaving and the second one was for being so careless!" Raven basically screamed. She got up and dusted herself off and continued haranguing the green man.

"What's the matter with you? You think you could just pop up and say 'hey, what's up everyone? Miss me?' and not even think about how this will affect everyone?" Raven blurted out in one breath. "Also what you did was completely dangerous and stupid and –"

Raven was silenced when Beast Boy placed his index finger over her lips, resulting in Raven blushing.

"It's ok Raven." Beast Boy replied softly. He stepped forward, closing the gap that was between them and embraced her in a strong but soft embrace. "I missed you, too."

All Raven could do was melt in his arms. It's been so long since the last time she was in the arms of someone she truly trusted, in his arms. She didn't even bother to bring up her hood to hide her blushing face.

"Hey BB, been too long man." Cyborg said as he placed his massive mechanical hand on his little brothers' shoulder. His human eye started to tear up as his hand firmly gripped the green man's shoulder.

"Indeed it has, dude." Beast Boy replied looking the Tin Man in the eyes.

"I know this is a touching reunion and everything, but…" Nightwing interjected. "But I think this is best celebrated, at the tower. Raven, would you be so kind?" As Nightwing looked at each and every person, each giving their nod of approval, Raven surrounded them with her dark energy and teleported them back towards their Tower, their home.

When they stepped out of Raven's portal, they soon found themselves in the common room.

"Is it not glorious to not only be home but also have our full family back?" Starfire happily shouted, floating towards the couch.

"Yeah, I think we're finally whole once again." Nightwing chimed in also walking towards the couches.

"Wait!" Beast Boy screamed. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks and turned their heads towards Beast Boy, all held skeptical faces. "Before we get all comfy and stuff, I believe a group hug is in order."

Everyone except Raven agreed and thus didn't partake in the group hugging. As they released their embrace from one another, Raven suddenly walked out of the common room and headed towards her room.

-With Raven-

Raven rushed towards her room. Reason: She doesn't know. Her first instinct was to enter her Fortress of Solitude and she listened. As she entered her room, the door closing quietly behind her, she floated towards her bed and with a soft _plop_, she lands on her bed.

_Is this really happening? I mean, _really_, is _this_ really happening? _Raven scrambled her mind for anything that would prove that she was hallucinating.

_Trigon alive? Uncheck… wait, we defeated him a few years ago… _

_Hell freezing over? Nope._

_In an alternate dimension? Don't recall using any incantations or magic of that magnitude… That's probably means no._

_Sprout four eyes and happen to have my physical being in control of my once-very-evil Rage emotion who sent my mind into a trapped dream-like state in which I am going to be in a state of bliss so I wouldn't be the wiser as to her taking over the world and ultimately the rest of the dimension for her or Trigons, or both, desires… Wait, how can that even work with the fact that now I am no longer bound to my fathers' evil-ness because of his demise... which relates to 'option 1'… Nope. Nada. Zilch._

"Ugh!" Raven grunts in protest at her mind. "Ok, so since I've come to conclude, to the best of my ability, that I am NOT hallucinating… So does that mean Garfield's really back?" With that final thought, she felt her stomach flutter as she lightly dozed off.

-Meanwhile, with the other Titans in the common room-

Beast Boy noticed Raven rush towards her room and his ears drooped slightly and his shoulders slumped a bit.

"Don't worry about it friend," Starfire confided. "She is probably the most joyous in seeing your return."

"I know, Star." Beast Boy replied, feeling defeat.

"Hey! Grass Stain!" Cyborg yelled from the couch. "I believe you owe all of us an explanation!"

As his friend's gathered at the couch, Beast Boy stood in front of the giant windows and started explaining the situation with his three other teammates. After he was finished, some two hours later, he waited for the reaction that was inevitably going to come.

"Well…" Cyborg was the first to speak, again. "I would've never guessed _that_."

"I would have to agree with friend Cyborg. I completely thought you left us simply because we either hated you or we didn't treat you fairly." Starfire admitted.

"Well, I knew why from the beginning –" Nightwing added.

"WHAT?" Both Cyborg and Starfire exploded.

"You knew this whole time and you didn't even bother to tell us why?" Cyborg yelled, waving his massive index finger in Nightwing's face.

"Why did you not inform us?" Starfire's eyes slowly glowed a dangerous green.

"Hey!" Beast Boy shouted, regaining the attention of his fellow teammates. "I told him and basically made him promise me not to tell you guys. I felt ashamed and didn't want to make things more complicated."

They all sat quietly, not saying anything to one another.

"Hey, I think you should go and explain things to Raven." Nightwing finally added. "She may not admit it but you mean a lot to her. At least, you mean more to her than we are to her." Nightwing chuckled uneasily.

"Yeah, whatever you say, Bird Brain. Bu you're right, I should go check up on her. I'll be back later so we can start catching up." With that said, Beast Boy walked out of the common room and headed towards Raven's room.

_I'd didn't think they would take it so easily…_

_**Maybe it really hasn't settled in. Maybe they're just relieved that they have you back, finally.**_ The Beast retorted.

_Good point. But I woulda… ya know… wanted them to at least yell at me or something. I kinda left all of a sudden and three years later they understood why I left and no questions asked? All in one night?..._

_**Well, like I said: maybe it'll take some time for it to really sink in. But you have to admit, at least they were extremely happy to see you. Not to mention, I could smell a bit of fear as well…**_The Beast chuckled darkly at that thought.

_Dude…_ Beast Boy mentally whined. During his conversation with his alter ego he suddenly found himself nearing Raven's room.

As Beast Boy stood in front of Raven's door, he hesitated before knocking on her door. Just as he was about to knock on her door, his ears twitched and perked up as he heard a faint noise. As he focused his hearing, he could hear Raven's light breathing in the distance.

_She's resting. I should bother her later when she's gotten her rest._ The Beast grumbled in annoyance at Beast Boy's resolve but didn't argue. As he started to walk away he heard shifting in her bedroom. A second later Raven's door swung open as Beast Boy was slowly walking away.

"And where do you think you're going?" Raven asked, raising her eyebrows sleepily.

"Oh… Umm…" Beast Boy started twiddling his fingers. "Well, I could hear you through the door and I heard you sleeping so I thought I should let you sleep and then come bother you later." He admitted.

"Ok, first off that's not necessary and secondly," Raven stepped out to the hall and towards Beast Boy. As she neared him she grabbed him by the collar and brought herself up towards his ears. "You don't have to keep up the kid charade, _Garfield_."

When she said his name, his real name, it sent shivers down his spine. The Beast purred with content in his mind. Raven started to literally drag the slightly dazed changeling into her room without much effort. As they ventured further into her room, the door quietly closed behind him.

Raven's room was very lightly lit with candles thrown about in her room. As she sat down on her bed she patted a section next to her, beckoning him to sit with her. When he gracefully plopped himself next to the half-demon, she flicked her wrists, resulting in the candles being extinguished. A split second later the artificial light clicked to life and illuminated the room. As Beast Boy scanned the room under the new lighting, he noticed that her room has changed slightly, as well.

Instead of a rather dark and depressing cliché atmosphere, in which everyone assumed her room to be, he found himself located in a rather modern library-looking room. She still had awkwardly shaped shelves but was still shelves, regardless and more of it compared to the last time he remembered. As he gazed at the longer length walls of her rectangular-shaped room, he noticed that it was completely covered with shelves: left side was a bunch of ancient and old looking books and the right more modern looking books.

He focused his eyes on the shelves and found that his previous assumption had been accurate. The left side held all kinds of ancient and alien type books. Signifying that they were most likely her books of spells, demon history, sorcery books, etcetera. Glancing over towards the right he also noticed that these books were relatively more Earth-bound than its counterpart. He saw books from Poe, Shakespeare, Galileo, the works, as well as more modern-day fictional books.

As he was taking in the new layout of her room, he failed to realize that he was not the only one who had eyes gazing upon some kind of spectacle. While he was focused on the new layout and format of her room, Raven had her eyes on him.

As she inspected Beast Boy, she came to conclude that he definitely changed the most out of all her teammates. He was taller, much more muscular but not in a bulky way; more of a lean and mean kind of way which, if she were to ever admit, was just how she liked it. She glanced over his arms and noticed how toned they were, as well as lightly covered with scars. Taking a mental note to ask him about those later she observed how his uniform has changed.

He still wore his signature gloves, consisting of it being gray with a thick black streak across the top of the hand, but his attire was slightly altered and his shoes didn't differ as well. First, it was completely sleeveless.

_Probably to show off to 'the ladies' of his new and improved self. _Raven mentally pouted.

The especially designed fabric was of the same make as his Doom Patrol outfit but of a different pattern. It was still of his pervious teams' signature colors of purple and black but instead of the main torso covered in a thick line of purple, it was now triangular. Since he has no sleeves, resulting in less black being present in his new outfit, the torso had to be redone.

The purple started from his shoulders, going across his chest and the tip of the triangle made contact at the center of his belt. There was also a thin streak of purple that ran the length of his side, where his arms were if he were to lay his arms to his side. As for his pants they were a solid black with one thick streak of purple going down the side of his entire leg.

As she eyed his torso she could tell, now being closer to the changeling, that he had a _very_ chiseled body. Raven started blushing slightly at the fact that she was practically gawking over her new teammate. Trying to push those thoughts to the very depths of her mind where it would be, hopefully forgotten, she glanced upwards towards Beast Boy's face.

As she observed she noted how his face was very firm looking but had an air of kindness to it. He still retained some of his boyish charms. As she gazed towards his eyes, that's what made her slightly gasp.

As she watched Beast Boy get slightly distracted at the new environment, she took the time to look deeply into his eyes. They were still the same beautiful emerald orbs that always held her attention. The saying 'a persons' eyes were like the gateways to ones' soul' came into mind as she absentmindedly stared into his. His eyes were soft and full of love and care but at the same time it had a tinge of strength. His eyes radiated a sense of power that was both loving and intimidating with a hint of fear.

"I see you've changed the place a bit, Rae." Beast Boy commented, snapping Raven out of her trance.

"Uh, yeah…" Raven retorted, trying to regain her composure.

"I like it." Beast Boy said, looking down at Raven. "Not saying that I didn't like it before," He stammered. "I mean I liked it before too, it's just –" Beast Boy was suddenly silenced when a strip of black energy was taped across his mouth.

"Don't worry, Garfield. I know what you mean." Raven replied, a little playfully. She released her hold on his mouth as she saw his shoulders slouch down in a more relaxing state.

"Heh, sorry, old habits die hard." Beast Boy sheepishly scratched the back of his head. Suddenly his childish and innocent demeanor changed and he became more serious. The mood shift didn't go unnoticed by the sorceress. "Well, I guess you want to know… everything. Eh?"

Raven waved her hand. "Not just yet." This comment surprised Beast Boy. "What I want to know first is: did you come back to Jump City today? Or were you already here? Or…" Beast Boy chuckled lightly.

"Before you pummel me with questions pertaining to your first question, let's take this one at a time." He waited for her approval before continuing to speak. As a result, she nodded her head lightly.

"It just so happens that, yes, I just came back to Jump City." Beast Boy started. "I was coming back from Upper Lamumba, Africa – I'll explain why after I answer this question; and yes it has to do with why I left – and it was early morning, maybe around eight or nine in the morning. I stopped by our usual pizza parlor and ordered some breakfast.

"Of course, since I didn't ask or have one of Cyborg's holographic rings, everyone was perplexed that I suddenly reappeared. After finishing my small meal, consisting of soy milk and animal crackers, I was then swarmed by reporters. Saying they were surprised at my appearance, was an understatement. They questioned the hell out of me. But I didn't answer or even acknowledge they were asking me questions. Instead, I got up from the table I was sitting at and morphed into a peregrine falcon and flew to Jump City Tower.

"I figured I could get some peace and quiet from the paparazzi's harassment if I went to the tallest tower in Jump City, ya know? Anyways, as I landed on the giant needle thingy at the top, I sat with my legs dangling over the side and just relaxed. I was getting used to the air and atmosphere that I used to call home; I suddenly heard sirens going off. Figuring that something was up and knew you guys were going to be heading there as well, I thought I might as well reintroduce myself there.

"But by the time I reached the prison there was a massive explosion. I landed right outside the destroyed section of the prison walls just as you guys got thrown about from the explosion. When I saw everyone basically knocked out and Cinderblock rising, an introduction was the last thing on my mind. When I saw Cinderblock rise and start to hover over you, I knew I couldn't hide in the shadows; I had to do something.

"Thus, I transformed into Beast and launched myself off of a section of the wall that looked sturdy. Once I landed on top of ya, I blocked his blow and BAM!..." Beast Boy suddenly flew off the bed and was standing in a heroic pose. "Here I am." He was wearing one of his trademark goofy grins as he stood there, proudly.

At his sudden outburst, Raven lightly laughed at Beast Boy which resulted in him relaxing from his boyish pose and walked back towards the bed. As he sat down beside Raven he gave a nice warm smile; a genuine smile; a smile in which Raven dearly missed; a smile that made her stomach flutter.

"So," Beast Boy suddenly broke the silence between them, "Why did you ask what you asked?"

"To be honest, I think I felt your presence." Raven honestly admitted. "Right before the alarms went off I thought I sensed something familiar. But it was also different. And now, I know why." She then gestured her index finger towards Beast Boy's chest, lightly flicking it.

At her action Beast Boy flushed a light shade of red. "Well I'm glad you still remember me, Rae."

"How can I forget?" Raven replied, letting her finger linger on his chest. "You basically hammer your existence into my life since the day I met you." _Plus, you mean more to me than I will ever care to admit._ She… admitted to herself.

"Oh really? Is that –" Beast Boy was suddenly interrupted as large knocking erupted from behind them.

Raven, slightly annoyed at the very inconvenient timing of her friends, got up from the bed and walked towards her door. On the other side, Nightwing was still in his attire but mask-less. Opening the door, Raven was met with crystal blue eyes.

"Time for dinner." Nightwing announced. He turns around and starts walking away after saying three words. But called behind him saying, "Oh Raven, Code #67."

Raven only responded by nodding her head in acknowledgement. Beast Boy on the other hand had no idea what Code #67 was or what it consisted of. Shrugging it off as nothing, he got up off of Raven's bed and walked out into the hall.

"Umm, Beast Boy?"

"What's up, Rae?"

"Go ahead without me first. I have to… get something for dinner. Afterwards, however, I want _every _little detail." Before Beast Boy could question, comment or even react, Raven closed the door to her room. Again, shrugging it off as nothing continued his venture towards the common room.

Upon his arrival a minute later he found his teammates sitting around the kitchen table, waiting patiently for the other two. But something seemed completely off. As he scanned the scene before him, there were no plates, no silverware; there wasn't anything on the kitchen table. It was completely vacant. Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck started standing on end.

_**Garfield!**_ The Beast commanded.

Without having time to react, Beast Boy was suddenly engulfed in dark energy and thrown onto the table. Having his back planted firmly on top of the table the other Titans just looked down at him, devilishly. He tilted his head upwards, noticing Raven at the head of the table with her hands glowing with dark, pulsing energy.

"So, Beast Boy," Cyborg started. As he spoke the rest of the Titans reached underneath the table and pulled out a various objects. "You left the Titans… and you came back…"

"You know what that means…" Nightwing continued.

"Don't you, friend Beast Boy?" Starfire finished.

Beast Boy gulped, hard.

"That's right, Grass Stain!" Cyborg bellowed.

"It's time for your re-initiation." Raven concluded, standing above him while twirling a pink colored wig in her hand and a wide smirk plastered on her face.

As the Titans closed in around him, he could only squeal in horror.

* * *

Author's Zone:

In case anyone was confused:

"Dialogue" – Basically stuff being said out loud.

_Thoughts _– Mainly thoughts but will also signify the importance of the italicized word and /or display actions/sound effects.

_**Beast's Thoughts **_– This is the Beast's thoughts/dialogue with Beast Boy.

Regarding to "Cimus," I don't even know if that hybrid even has an official name or anything… just kinda made it on the fly. If there is actual information regarding Cinderblock and Overload's fusion, please inform me, thanks.

The Cretin:

_First of all, awesome name dude. I'm a diehard BB fan thru and thru so stories where he does loner missions, soul searching, etc. interest me. Many who don't like him often say he couldn't cut it alone or as a leader. I'm interested to see how he's progressed. Not to mention that for a first fic, yer story rocks. I hope you'll let me read more. Welcome to fanfic. May you write many good one. If someone flames you just tell them The Cretin said to piss off. Kudos on a good story. Keep rockin._

Roldy: Thanks man, I made the name a good like 10+ years ago and kinda just flowed with it. I have to agree greatly on the fact that everyone thinks/takes Beast Boy as he is in the TV series. I find him probably one of the strongest, if not the strongest, character when it comes to emotional and physical strength. I greatly appreciate the praise and encouraging words and I will take it to heart and continue to the best of my ability. I hope you will continue to enjoy this FanFic. Also, don't just thank me, thank my friends as well since they're the ones who: got me into FanFic all those years ago and for helping me edit. Again, thank you and hope to hear more from you in the near future.

TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne:

_Nice beginning and cliffhanger. I like how you had them evolve as they grew up (I like stories where they are young adults)._

_Also, I have a hunch that a green changeling is going to appear out of nowhere and save Raven._

Roldy: Thanks for the reviews. I have to ask you to bear with me since I'm about to "geek out" a bit. But first off, I've read your works and I can say you are one of my favorite authors and just seeing an e-mail notifying me of your review was like surreal. To hear from someone who's work I do appreciate greatly to say I'm off to a good start is great motivation. Anyways, enough gushing. I also love to twist things up by having characters from this show mature to what I feel would be accurate… or just to fuel my own imagination. I hope to stay as true as I can to the comic/TV series type style characterization. But I also want to shape and morph them to what I think would happen to them.

And I tend to be a bit cliché and as you've probably already read, yes, the green changeling is the hero of the hour. I hope to keep your interests with this story. Again, thanks for the review and you keep up the awesome work, as well.

Wolvmbm:

_NIce start to an interesting tale. ;D_

_I do wish for you to keep up the good work upon such a great idea like this one as i can't wait to see what happens next in this tale of yours. ;)_

Roldy: Thanks for the review and compliments. I also hope your interests fueled as I slowly unveil the mystery's behind the green hero's disappearance and other events that will happen in the near future.

Again, I give my thanks to all who left reviews and put this story on their alerts. Also, I'm sorry that I didn't go into detail as to what the initiation consisted of but… I got lazy. 'Till next time!


	3. Chapter 2: Bittersweet Normalcy

Disclaimers: Disclaimers: I do not own Teen Titans nor do I claim to own anything in this story.

A/N: I deeply apologize to my readers and reviewers for the massive delay in the next installment in Evolution: Times of Change. I honestly have no real excuse to my absence besides playing 'Real Life' and getting back into PC building and PC Gaming. If anyone here is a computer buff, you're more than welcome to visit my Profile Page where I will be posting image(s) of my current PC build. Anyways, again I'm sorry for the massive delay in updating this story. For your troubles I have concluded that I will be making this next chapter longer than originally intended. The original concept was to have this chapter be split into multiple segments but because of recent events it's going to be one massive chapter.

So as a precautionary measure, I have to inform my readers that this is a longer chapter than my previous ones. And of course, if there is anything you don't like, please always make a remark. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated but flames will only keep my tea kettle warm. Thank you.

In case anyone was confused:

"Dialogue" – Basically stuff being said out loud.

_Thoughts_ – Mainly thoughts but will also signify the importance of the italicized word and /or display actions/sound effects.

_**Beast's Thoughts**_ – This is the Beast's thoughts/dialogue with Beast Boy.

Without further notes, I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter in Evolution: Times of Change

* * *

_Previously on Evolution: Times of Change:_

_Garfield gulped, hard._

"_That's right, Grass Stain!" Cyborg bellowed._

"_It's time for your re-initiation." Raven concluded, standing above him while twirling a pink colored wig in her hand and a wide smirk plastered on her face._

_As the Titans closed in around him, he could only squeal in horror._

* * *

Evolution: Times of Change – Chapter 2: Bittersweet Normalcy

Garfield groaned as he rolled over on his top bunk. He slowly cracked opened his eyes to a brightly lit room. As his eyes adjusted to the blistering bright sunlight that was illuminating his room, he could only groan some more at what conspired the night before. Not wanting to remember the events of his re-initiation, he got out of his top bunk ungracefully as he missed the ladder and fall flat on his back. With a successful _thunk_, he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Stupid eye boogers…" Garfield complained. He glances towards his bunk bed with a troubled face. "I think it's about time to get a 'big boy' bed, eh?

_**I would assume so… after all you are 22. **_The Beast paused for a minute before continuing. _**Well then again, you can't fit **_**two**_** bodies on your top bunk, now can you?**_

"Oh, shut it."

As Garfield came out of his groggily state, he started his daily morning routine. He quietly walked over to his large window and looked out towards Jump City. After taking in the scene before him, realizing how much he really missed this place, he started his morning workout. It consisted of stretching, jumping jacks, sit ups, star pushups, crunches and various other cardiovascular inducing exercises. After about a good 45 minutes of his morning workout session, he quickly gathered his change of clothing and headed towards his alternative shower which was located on the other side of the tower where the guest rooms were located.

The only reason why he couldn't use the personal bathroom that was located inside his room is because the plumbing was cut and redirected. Not knowing when Garfield would be back the Titans assumed to just turn it off until he returned. Apparently they didn't turn it on because of the previous days' events. Before he left his room he glanced over towards his nightstand and read the time: 7:45 AM.

"Hmm, I figured that I would be awake much later… Stupid internal clock must be on the fritz." Garfield started knocking on his noggin to emphasize his statement.

As he left his room, he had his blanket hanging loosely over his shoulder with his change of clothes under the other arm. As he strolled through the corridors in the early morning, he didn't take into consideration that he was strolling around in only his boxers.

Smart.

When he got near the common rooms doors, he stopped dead in his tracks as he took in a scent: the scent of cooking meat. Garfield visibly shuddered at the mere scent of cooking meat.

"Ya know, as much as I have evolved with the heightened senses and vast array of other abilities, there will always be a drawback… and this is one of them…"

As he entered the common room, still on his way towards the alternative shower, Garfield noticed two figures already in the common room. While lightly humming towards himself he slowed down his walk to take in his surroundings.

"Morning Rob… err… Nightwing." Garfield scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Morning Garfield." Nightwing replied without looking up. "You can call me Dick or Richard whilst in the tower, Gar. It's alright, I think after all this time I can at least trust you guys with my real name." Nightwing said. It appeared that the Boy Wonder was currently making breakfast for one. As he neared the still masked leader, slowly flipping the bacon in his pan, he inwardly retched as the scent of the bacon was overpowering his senses.

"I see everyone's been converted to the House-de-Cyborg." Garfield said with a face full of disgust.

"Well… what can I say? I love bacon." The team leader gracefully flings the bacon into the air and caught them on a plate that was covered with paper towels; most likely used to absorb some of the grease and fat. The young masked man places his perfectly crispy bacon on the table and looks up at the changeling.

"Ok, first off, what are you doing? Where are your clothes and why are you sweating?" Nightwing asked, obviously confused. All the while he was scarfing down strips of bacon in front of Garfield.

"Oh, I was doing my morning workout session and found out that my shower doesn't work… or any of the plumbing in fact." Garfield replied, honestly, eyeballing the strips of bacon.

"Why would –" The Boy Wonder thought. Suddenly he snapped his fingers. "Oh! Shit, sorry man. Cyborg and I were meaning to restore the plumbing back to your section of the Tower but we totally forgot. Sorry about that, seriously. I'll make sure Cy and I get your plumbing back in order before the day's done."

"It's all good man. I kinda figured something like that was going to happen. Heh. After all, I did just show up randomly." With that said, he turns his focus on the other person in the vicinity: Raven.

Raven, however, was floating in front of the giant windows floating in midair. Obviously she was meditating. Garfield stopped before exiting the common room to take in the scene before him. The floating and meditating sorceress had her eyes closed and was chanting her mantra quietly, seemingly unaffected by Garfield's presence. The sight before him left him in awe.

In the windows reflection, he could clearly see the soft and gentle features of her face as she was completely relaxed in her meditative state. He noticed how the orange sunlight lightly radiated off her pale skin, giving her the sense that she was slightly glowing in the morning light. All in all, it was a beautiful sight to behold.

Shaking his head slightly trying to snap out of his dream-like state, he suddenly realized that Raven was wearing his necklace. The Beast that resided in his subconscious purred in delight and his heart skipped a beat. He was ecstatic, to say the least, to see her wearing the gift he gave her. Coming back to reality, he figured, since he said good morning to his fellow teammate he should share the same respect and acknowledge her presence in the room as well.

"Morning, Rae." He said softly, hoping his voice wasn't too penetrating. However, what was penetrating was the sound of the Beast, purring quite contently at the sight of Raven.

Raven's eyes slowly opened and her chanting stopped and slowly turned towards him.

"Morning, Garfield." Raven replied, slowly turning around to face him. "How did you slee–" Raven stopped in mid-sentence as she slowly registered at what stood before her. Upon realization of the sight being displayed to her, she could feel her face start to flush.

She was slightly gawking at Garfield's appearance. What stood before her was Garfield, shirtless, pant-less and covered in a light layer of sweat; the sweat causing him to shine a bit under the orange glow of the morning sun. She also noted that without his new outfit inhibiting his physical features, she could _clearly_ see his defining characteristics.

After a minute of staring, Raven summoned her powers to bring up her hood. Hoping that Garfield didn't notice her very red face, she then phased through the floor to re-appear in her room.

Somewhat dumbstruck, Garfield figured it was nothing and shrugged it off. He started walking towards one of the guest bathrooms, remembering his goal before he stopped to stare at the beautiful half-demon. Nightwing on the other hand, saw the whole thing unfold before him. He watched as Garfield was staring at Raven and vice versa. Nightwing smiled to himself as he noted at how oblivious those two really are. Suddenly he heard the toaster bell _ding_ and brought him back to his original goal as well: fill his stomach with food.

Unbeknownst to the other Titans, Raven was within the safe confines of her room blushing brightly while her mind went into the gutter. As she walked over to her dresser, she picked up her Azarathian mirror and chanted her three famous words.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…" A dark energy-infused hand suddenly sprouts from the mirror, grabbing Raven tightly and was dragged into her mirror: into Nevermore.

-Inside Titans Tower and back with Garfield-

After being in the shower for a good 20 minutes, Garfield stepped out feeling completely refreshed and clean, ready for the days' events. As he threw his dirty boxers and used towel into the laundry basket, he strolled back towards the common room, thinking of what he should make for breakfast. After concluding that breakfast should consist of toast with some strawberry jam and a cup of O.J., he let his mind wander and found himself thinking about the beautiful sorceress for the up-thousandth time.

_I can't believe how much she's changed over the span of the time I was gone…_ The changeling thought to himself.

After he finished creating his meal, he sat down at one of the stools that were around the kitchen. Nightwing was currently at the terminal that was linked to the window-sized TV, looking up if there were any reasons as to why major criminals were focusing their efforts to breaking out other convicts. As Garfield happily munched into his toast, Cyborg and Starfire came walking into the common room, chatting loudly.

"But does that not mean that people should be more nice to one another?" Starfire questioned the Tin Man.

"Not really, Star. Some people are just like that." Cyborg replied. "Hey there Green Bean, how'd you sleep?" Smirking slightly.

"Oh, hardy-har-har." Garfield replied, dryly.

"Welcome back, bro. " Cyborg pat Garfield on his shoulder then proceeded into the kitchen, getting ready for his carnivorous meal.

While Cyborg was busy grilling away in the kitchen, Starfire was floating next to Nightwing, attempting to get him away from the computer.

"Please my beloved, please join us for breakfast?"

"One sec, Kori. I gotta –" Before Nightwing finished his sentence, Starfire nonchalantly places a firm kiss on her lovers' lips. Pulling away after a second or two, Starfire floats away and sits down a few seats away from Garfield. "Ok. I guess I'm done." Pushing himself away from the terminal, he trots over and sits down next to his girlfriend.

_Hmp, if only I had someone like that to entice me in the morning…_

_**You already know whom we would want…**_

_Ya know you don't have to keep reminding me. But I can't change what I can't control._

As Garfield absentmindedly ate the remainder of his breakfast, Cyborg sat down next to him with a rather large stack of pancakes and waffles; fully drenched in syrup and a slice of butter on top. He also has a side of bacon, sausage and a rather large cup of ice cold milk.

"If I didn't know any better, Vic," Garfield piped up. "I'd say you've changed quite a bit since the last time we saw each other… But your breakfast sure hasn't."

Starfire, on the other hand, had a nice helping of waffles and French toast. As Cyborg literally inhaled the scrumptious meal and downed his drink, Nightwing waited for his girlfriend to finish her meal before speaking up.

"When Raven gets back from her room," Nightwing then shifts his attention to the Changeling. Nightwing eye's Garfield for a second before continuing. "I'll brief everyone of this afternoons training session. It'll start at 11:30 sharp. I have a new idea that I want to try out in the gym. Don't be late." With having that said, Nightwing and Starfire both got up and headed towards the gym; to either warm up or God knows what. Cyborg cleaned up the dishes and then headed for the Game Station.

"Yo, B! You up for a nice ass kicking in Mega Monkeys 7: The Banana Affect?" Cyborg challenged. "And I ain't going easy on ya just because you've been gone!"

"You don't know who you're up against, Tin Man!" Cyborg's offer accepted, the two had a very intense gaming session that lasted until they had to meet on the training grounds for practice.

-In Nevermore-

As Raven gracefully landed on the landscape of her mind, her eyes scanned the area to take in the atmosphere. It still had the space-like affect for a sky but there were no longer floating asteroids that lead to different areas. Instead she was on a large floating island that was a rather grassy plane that had multiple routes one could take. Each route would take you to her different personalities and emotions that dwelled in her mind. Raven's eyes started to glow and she summoned her other 'selves' to begin her meeting with herself.

Suddenly, multiple figures clad in different colored cloaks phased up from the ground. The ground beneath the doppelgangers' feet suddenly started shifting and morphing until it retained the shapes of chairs. As Raven's personalities phased in and sat down in their respective seats, in the center stood the 'real' Raven, with her emotions forming a circle around her. As Raven sat on her chair, the ground in between Raven and her doppelgangers rose and steadily formed a circular table. After the summoning procedures were finished and the summoning of her personalities and emotions were also completed, did she start the meeting.

"Hi Ravie! What's up girl!" The pink clad emotion known as Happy expressed excitedly.

"Hey Happy, why do you even bother asking me 'what's up' when you obviously already know the answer to said question?" Raven deadpanned.

"Well sorry, Ms. Grumpy! I just wanted to keep things lively." Retorted Happy.

"Can we just get this thing started?" Complained the emotion clad in orange.

"Even though I tend to not associate myself with Rude, I do have to agree with her." Agreed Raven.

"Well, as you all have probably figured out," started the emotion wearing a pair of glasses and a yellow cloak, better known as Knowledge. "This meeting is being called forth to try and see if we can… resolve a particularly _green_ issue."

"What seems to be the problem?" Inquired an emotion clad in lavender. "Everyone here, including yourself Raven, have already come to terms that we are indeed and undoubtedly _infatuated_ with Garfield."

"But what if he doesn't like us back?" Squeaked an emotion in gray.

"Why wouldn't he?" Questioned Love.

"Because when he left the first time, he left us! Not only was he too fucking weak to handle whatever personal bullshit he had to, but he was a fucking weakling at everything else." Retorted Rage; emotion clad in a crimson red. "Not to mention he's a piss-poor comedian, a really fucking annoying little –"

"Enough!" Raven yelled.

Ignoring Raven's command, Rage continued with her rant. "And why are you even here, Love? Huh? I mean, sure, you're love and apparently we've all come to the conclusion that we, as in Raven, love Garfield but as I recall, weren't _you_ in love with _Dick_ a while back? Hmm?"

"I love him like I love everyone else on the team, platonically." Love retorted. "Minus Garfield… that's a different story."

"Even though what Rage is saying maybe somewhat true, you have to remember, Rage is talking about stuff that happened three plus years ago." Knowledge said. "Today, we are faced with much different circumstances. Regardless of the facts that are currently at hand or was presented to us in the past, it's that Garfield is back and now he seems to be completely… different."

"He's not entirely different." Inquired Love. "He may have changed physically but underneath that… _delicious_ exterior is still the Garfield we all know and love." Love received a vast amount of nods that approved of her statement.

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Knowledge agreed. "But the reason why we're gathered here today is to discuss how his return will affect our way of life."

"Can you be more specific?" Interjected Rude.

"What I mean by that is, how are we going to handle things when Raven's powers become unstable, as a direct result of Garfield being around?"

"Just for the record," Raven interrupts, "we all know that I have much more freedom with expressing myself without having to worry about my powers discharging."

"Even if that maybe true –"

"It is true." Rude interrupts.

"- that still doesn't mean that you can let things go unchecked. Who knows, just because you have the ability to freely show emotions, to a degree, without consequence doesn't mean, praise Azar, that if Garfield happens to kiss you one night, that nothing will happen. Also, even though you have great control, basically complete control, over how your powers are channeled, that doesn't mean that there might be a possible outburst of energy created by the emotions you are going to feel when you're with Garfield. There is almost no guarantee that your powers won't discharge at will because we have yet to experience these kind of… things." Doubt added delicately.

"Just the thought of us gathering the _courage_ to plant a nice wet one on the green _beast _makes even me giggle like a little schoolgirl." Bravery suggests. Raven looks down, somewhat embarrassed at Bravery's comment.

"Oh I feel like I would _explode_ if he ever chose to do that!" Piped up Happy. Knowledge eye's Raven with her statement.

"But what if he doesn't like how we kiss? What if he doesn't like the smell of our breath? Or –Ow!" Timid was smacked in the head gently by Affection, her eye's tearing up.

"How can you even think about this in a negative fashion? Regardless of the reason for it happening, we all _know_ that when it does happen, it's going to be _amazing_." Inquired Love, resulting in most of Ravens' doppelgangers nodding their head's in agreement yet again.

"I'm not trying to be the pessimistic one, like Timid over there, even though these are all great ideas and scenarios and everything…" Knowledge interjected. "But we must use extreme caution when it comes to how we feel about the changeling and how we intend on informing him on our feelings. It might be dangerous; it might not. We can't say for sure what will happen: We don't know if he'll reciprocate and don't know what'll happen to us. I mean, the consequences could be catastrophic!"

"The mystery of the unknown with the influence of the certainty… interesting…" The brown clad emotion, Curiosity, thought. "Does the saying, 'you'll never know until you try' come into mind?"

"Albeit that be true, the risks would be great." Raven rebuttals, now reflecting upon Knowledge's assessment of the situation.

"But how can you be sure?" Curiosity questions. "As you have yourself stated, we have never experienced such strong emotions before and let's not forget about Malchior." Anger suddenly growled dangerously at the mention of _his_ name. The emotions also slightly recoiled from the mention of the dragons' name. Raven, on the other hand, just narrowed her eyes.

"What Curiosity brings up is very valid." Agrees Knowledge. "As much as Malchior did hurt us, let us not forget the lesson that was taught to us…"

"What lesson was that? That men are fucking pigs?" Anger spat.

"No, but rather we were… happy." Knowledge continued, "we were naïve and blinded to his true nature. It was a false sense of infatuation and trust from him, but what we felt was completely true. We were infatuated with him, regardless of what you say Raven. And you know what I've concluded with our small infatuation with said creature?" The yellow clad emotion eyed every single other emotion, including Raven, waiting for an answer.

"Raven was balanced: was pure, was in control." The small revelation made Raven got slightly slack jawed. "We had no fears; we were content, we were happy and we were whole. We not only were able to control more power but also were able to express our emotions _without_ consequences." She left the facts sink in, pausing for affect. "Was anything destroyed – scratch that. Was anything _damaged_ when we expressed our feelings for that creature? Even _remotely_ damaged?"

After a few minutes of silence, Knowledge decided to speak once again.

"I believe," Knowledge continued, "that in order for us to be 'whole,' to be 'complete,' we need a partner. The one thing that Raven lacked in her entire life was love. Whether that love is platonic or romantic love, she lacked.

"We were taken from our mother in order to control our powers, who loved us to the point where being raped by pure evil didn't dissolve her belief that Raven should live. She was not allowed to show us and make us feel what she felt for us. We learned that we were not created into this universe via love. We basically have experienced and have every other emotion besides love, more specifically, romantic love. We continue to lack an emotion, a powerful emotion at that, that would make us complete.

"Without love being in Raven's life is like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle missing: incomplete. I believe that this completeness is what will bring order to chaos. That chaos, referring to Raven, is being unbalanced. In order to be able to feel complete; be whole, be balanced, we need a partner that not only we can love, but be loved as well. That partner could possibly be Garfield."

Everyone within Raven's realm seems to have been silenced with Knowledge's theory.

"I do hope Garfield would be that partner." Love commented, after many minutes of silence.

"I too agree." Happy replied, literally bouncing in her chair.

"Saying that I have a lot to reflect upon would be an understatement." Raven replied shortly after Knowledge's speech. Raven slowly stood up from her chair. "This has definitely been an eye opener and has given me a lot to think about and all I have to say is that I know for certain that I love him. Revealing to him about how I feel and him reciprocating is a whole 'nother ballpark. I still have to tread carefully; better to be cautious than careless."

"Admitting to yourself is the first step in the right direction." Wisdom added. "The direction to not only true happiness but also serenity in both mind, body and soul."

Raven slowly nodded her acknowledgement to what Wisdom has said and chanted her mantra. Raven slowly felt herself being lifted off the ground, out of her mind and back into her room. After a slight _plop_ sound when she landed on top of her bed, she glances over to her nightstand which read: 11:17 AM.

_Good, I still got time to make it to today's training session._ She moves over towards her dresser, made sure the mirror was placed back where she previously found it then headed towards the common room.

Upon entering she found her two male counterparts gaming heavily. Raven walked over to the two boys and watched as Cyborg's race car swerved ahead of Garfield's, winning the game a split second later.

"Boo-yeah!" Hollered Cyborg. He dropped his controller on the couch and did his victory dance.

"Awe man, I can't believe how rusty I've gotten." Whined Garfield. "Give me a week and I'll be back to whoop your ass, Vic!"

"Whatever you say, Grass Stain!" Cyborg challenged.

"C'mon guys." Raven announced, revealing her presence to the boys. "Time to head down to the gym. Better not be late or Dick will have a fit."

The grumbling _teens_ reluctantly released their controllers and headed towards the gym, Raven following suit.

"Dude, what do you think Dick was talking about when he was saying something about 'a new idea'?" Garfield air quoted.

"Beats me, bro." Cyborg started to contemplate on what kind of plans the Boy Wonder was coming up. "I'm assuming we have to start changing out battle plans and strategies and stuff since your scrawny ass came back." Cyborg lightly shoves Garfield as they walked down the corridors of Titans Tower. Raven was quietly observing her teammates from behind while also consulting with herself about her recent visit to Nevermore.

Raven looks up after being lost in thought for a few minutes, she suddenly finds herself nearing the entrance to the gym. Garfield kindly opens the door for his brother and as Raven nears he gives her the same courtesy as the man before her. As she walks in she notices that Garfield's head was looking down as if… he was slightly bowing to her? With an arched eyebrow, she enters dumbfounded.

"Alright, team, this is how we're going to do things today. First, normal warm-ups then physical strength and endurance testing." After getting some sort of acknowledgement from his teammates, Nightwing continues. "After said testing, we're going to see, no offence Beast Boy, how much you've… changed." Nightwing concluded. He didn't know what word to use because he didn't want to sound rude or rather unemotional.

"Wait, ya know, I've been thinking about something." Garfield piped up. All heads turned towards him. "Beast Boy is kinda… prepubescent. After all, I did make up that name when I was like 10." He scratched the back of his sheepishly. "I'm considering on 'officially' changing my name. Ya know, to suit the older me?"

"Makes sense." Nightwing added. ", but we'll think about that later. Let's get today's training over and then get back to daily patrols." With that having said, each Titan head towards their warm-up sections of the gym to start their days' training.

Both Nightwing and Garfield headed towards the 'cardio' section of the workout room, as a start. For Nightwing's first step, he went straight for the punching bags. After doing a few stretches, making sure to have stretched every muscle in his body he took a fighting stance in front of said bag. His eye's narrowed as if he was staring down his opponent; his enemy. Then with a loud battle-like yell, he lunged fourth and assaulted the poor inanimate object.

As Nightwing was laying waste to the poor bag, he noticed the Changeling heading towards the treadmills from the corner of his eye. While assaulting the punching bag, he repositioned himself so he can continue his workout but be able to view Garfield in his peripheral vision, as well.

_I do recall when Garfield was last on the treadmills, years ago, when the he sped up the treadmill in order to keep up with the faster pace, he would morph into different animals, depending on the speed he was currently at._ Nightwing thought analytically to himself. _He would normally 'analyze' his environment and depending on said environment, would depend on what type of animals he would shift into. Sort of like he takes in his surroundings and tried to adapt to them._

As he watched Garfield, he was, to say the least, surprised to find Garfield running at a nice steady pace. Slowly, Garfield would increase his speed and keep pace with his new setting for 10 minutes. He kept increasing the speed from a nice steady paced jog to an all-out sprint. While doing so, he did not once morph into an animal.

_Huh. I wouldn't have guessed that he would stay in his human form, even at a break-neck speed he's currently on. I was under the assumption that he would morph like he did before. But all he's doing is running and not even slowing down._

As Nightwing halt his siege against the inanimate object, he took the nearest towel from the towel rack and started to openly observer the green superhero.

_I know being a leader means that I basically have to address every little detail; no matter how small… but this is a little different… _The masked superhero started contemplating. _Even though he did leave the entire team because of a personal reason, albeit a rather strong reason, doesn't mean everyone, including myself, will welcome him back wholeheartedly. It may seem like so but I believe no matter what, Garfield has left a deep scar in everyone's hearts; especially Ravens._

_Ever since Garfield's sudden departure, I had to drastically think and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of being one member down. I mean, I'm not trying to be mean or anything but it really wasn't that much of a loss to the team; strategically. If I had to breakdown the team, it would be thus:_

_I believe that a teams' as strong as its weakest member. Having a weak link in the chain is something I will not tolerate because I will not have one person bring down the whole team. If I took a closer look at each and every member, minus Garfield, I could identify their strengths and how they all contribute to the team._

_Starfire. The main attributes in which she contributes to the team would be the ability of adaptation to extreme environments, superhuman strength as well as flight; thus enabling not only the addition of speed but also the capabilities of transportation. She can handle even the most harsh environments from subzero temperatures to being able to handle radioactive material. She is also extremely naïve and innocent which is a great need in stability of the team. Her constant remarks and unfamiliarity is what helps soften the rough edges of hard times, albeit it may also cause her harm when it comes to battles. Her greatest strength, which I believe to be, would be her positive attitude that now only empowers her own superhuman powers but also wraps the team in a veil of light which helps keep the darkness of our pasts and our jobs at bay._

As Nightwing breaks down, mentally, his team, his glance traces over towards the girls whom were currently doing their warm-ups on yoga pads. Starfire and Raven did their respective stretches then started to engage in yoga. Centralizing their emotions, focusing their minds and controlling their breathing were essential for them so they could use their powers as directed and needed. After their yoga session, Raven headed towards a wooden dummy and started doing simple hand-to-hand strikes against it. Raven made sure that she was competent enough to defend herself without powers because she believed that her sole dependency on her powers is her greatest weakness.

_Then we have Raven. Raven brings a whole new set of rules when she comes to the battlefield. Not only is she resourceful, being both intelligent and having a vast array of spells that can literally do limitless things. Her strength mostly derived from her mental abilities that gave her fortitude and stability, even in the most traumatic of times. Raven would often use her intelligence when being stealthy on missions as well as inputting vital information when it came to training and analyzing information from multiple angles. Her physics defying abilities also enables her to be extraordinarily stealthy._

_She also keeps everyone rooted, down-to-earth. She would always bring everyone back together if we started to drift apart when it came to tough decisions. She always has her head on straight and can be, at times, quite stubborn. Since she has control over her powers, although still deriving from her emotions, she is not only extremely powerful with her vast arsenal of spells but also capable of being empathetic when needed. She, being more of a sisterly figure towards the team, enables her to be personal with everyone which allows everyone to be able to communicate well. Not to mention, she is also my second-in-command._

As Nightwing continued to gaze at the two beautiful women in the vicinity, he focused more intently on Starfire, who was currently heading towards the air-training section of the gym. A rather large section of the gym 'floor' was redesigned specifically for Raven and Starfire so they could hone in their flying capabilities. Nightwing made sure everyone was as 'round' as possible. The small flying course had loops, multiple obstacles that were both stationary and lethal. Each time they used the course, it gets reconfigured, making sure that each time was different than the last; making them have to rethink and readapt to the new environment.

_Then there is my brother, Victor. He is and will always be the big brother of the Titan's family. Not only was he strong physically, the opposite of Raven, whom was strong mentally, but he was also intelligent, in a different way. When it came to resources, in the forms of geographical, language and other Earthly types of resources, Victor came second to none. He is a great strategist but when it came to battles on Earth, he was your man. He also is the only Titan to know the complete layout of the Tower, its' functionality as well as repair almost any kind of mechanical device. He could take apart, rebuild, and repair almost anything as long as he does it his way. Plus, he makes most of the food and since he's our main chef, looking forward to meals would be neigh impossible._

Nightwing shifts his gaze to where Victor aka Cyborg was currently positioned. Cyborg was heading towards a diagnostic checking station in which he would hook himself to. This station was designed for multiple functions. Firstly, it did a diagnostics check on all his systems, both hardware and software based as well as machine-to-human interfaces. Making sure there were no faults and everything was updated and on par, it then proceeded to make sure every joint, connection and opening was thoroughly checked and strained. Every port that opened or moved, every part that could detach or reassemble itself did their corresponding actions. Making sure everything worked properly and flawlessly was key.

After he went through a rather rigorous checkup, he preceded towards his next station, which was built specifically for him, the "lock-in" machine. Said machine made sure his targeting systems and battle systems were on par and ready to go. He went through simulations and other types of test missions making sure his systems were as accurate as they could be. All the calculations and principles of life, like gravity and wind, were all accounted for. He also went through simulations that were borderline impossible, but then again, they were the Titans. Inter-dimensional demons, physics-breaking phenomenon and whatnot are all part of a days' work. Thus he had to also incorporate such events into his simulations.

_Then there's me._ Nightwing chuckled to himself softly. _I guess what I have to contribute to this team is leadership, agility, OCDness and gadgets. I have a gadget for almost every situation in any condition. I guess I am Bruce's protégé… even though he does have better toys than me… Anyways, I not only brought everyone together but I make sure we stay together. I may not be completely strong physically like Starfire and Cyborg but I'm more agile than they are. I have extremely fast reflexes that make me one annoying opponent. But most of all, I have everyone's respect and thus have great authority that usually isn't questioned. Only if it really is something insane and/or stupid does it get questioned, but that's rare._

Nightwing now has a full smile on his face. _Patting my own back a little too much, eh? Anyways, back on track. We all have great strengths that we contribute to this team. When we have weaknesses, it's usually overshadowed because we have other team members that help balance each and every single one of us out. But then there was Garfield… before he left us._

Nightwing's eye furrowed slightly as he shifted his gaze towards the changeling and started reminiscing about the past once again.

_When Garfield was still with us, whilst he was still a teen and we called ourselves the 'Teen Titans,' he was shown to be the comic relief; the jokester, the prankster and the all-around free spirited member that he was. When it came to actually contributing to the team, the most 'positive' attribute in which he added was his free spirited nature, he attempted at funny antics and acted like he was just a nice guy. He tried his best to keep up the teams' morale and in turn, was subjugated to quite a bit of abuse, both physically and mentally by the team; mainly Raven._

_Garfield, back then, wasn't physically strong. The only thing that made him physically stronger was his ability to shape shift into any creature, either living or imaginary wasn't a concern. That's where his true physical strength came from, his ability to shape shift. When he wasn't using his superpowers he was more-or-less an ordinary human albeit green. That's why I tried to push him harder than the rest because if he wasn't , God forbid, able to shift or use his abilities, he would not only place himself in harms' way, but also risk the lives of the civilians as well as other team members, if they were to try and assist him._

_Not only did he lack any physical attributes but he also lacked mental strengths. At least, that's what he wanted us to think. The only time in which he actually used his head and contributed to the team was when everyone was assaulted by the Brain and The Brotherhood of Evil. That once incident was the only time in which he slapped his own ass and got into gear. Other serious situations, minus that one, he didn't really help strategically or whatnot. He was the comic relief._

_Although he can be stealthy at times, when it comes to pranks and other silly immature antics such as those, he was barely at that. While in his 'normal' form he didn't stand much of a chance if he was on a stealthy mission. If he shape shifted however, he can be the stealthiest person on the team. Again, because of his superpowers he was able to achieve a lot but he didn't use it to his full potential. At least, what I believe to be his full potential._

_Not only was he not overly serious, minus the Brain incident although he did share with everyone the poor joke at the end… But he doesn't normally express any form of intelligence. He leads us to believe that he's poorly educated and normally doesn't contribute any good form of intel when it comes to missions and battles._

_So in the end the old Garfield lacked many things. I did believe that he had potential to be better but he wasn't mature enough at the time to actually push the boundaries of his superpower. I wonder how much he's changed, if any and if I can use him on this team, once again._

As Nightwing slowly backed out of his analytical analysis of Pre-Garfield, he scanned the area and focused back on his team, his family. He found himself gazing, once again, at the Tamaranean Princess and watched as she parted from Raven and instead paired with Cyborg as they headed from the 'warm-up' section of the gym to the 'extreme workout' section.

Both Cyborg and Starfire went to their respective sections of that portion of the room where they intend to test and stress their superhuman strengths. Cyborg was first warming-up with dumbbells that didn't look like barbells at all. Instead, he was lifting weights, one in each hand that looked like miniature pyramids on a stick. In the center of each pyramid displayed, digitally, the amount of weight in metric tons. As Cyborg continued his reps with his triangular weights, the digital numbers slowly increased. After reps of 50 and 100, the weight increased by 10 tons until Cyborg found the "sweet spot."

Starfire was next to her training partner with similar weights. Instead, these looked much more intense and had a more sci-fi look to them. These weights were used under the same principle as Cyborgs but with an added bonus. Made specifically for Starfire, the weight would increase to the designated weight in which Starfire was accustomed to then when she wanted to test her strength, she would summon her green energy and release them into the weights. The result would be the weights gaining more weight, equivalent to the amount of power Starfire flowed into it. This made it so that Starfire was not only training and strengthening the aliens' physical anatomy, but also strengthening her star-power enriched anatomy; thus she is not only training her muscles but also her powers.

The weights that they were using at first were mostly for endurance training. The "weights" that they are now going to use are for strength training. Cyborg was now using barbells, but on the sides of the barbells were astronomically sized weights. Compared to the dumbbells they were using before, they looked rather pitiful. The barbells were attached to a machine in which weight is added in units of metric tons, times ten. As he would bench-press the weight, more weight would be added requiring him needing to displace more force to keep the barbell above his chest. The weight would keep adding until he could bare it no more, thus always resulting in a thunderous _thud_ as he dropped the device. Starfire did the same exercise but only with weight that would exceed human belief. Compared to Cyborg, the maximum weight in which he could bench-press was about the same weight Starfire could bench-press with one arm. Every time Starfire would near her maximum weight, the very weight she dropped always shook the very foundations of the tower.

_Thank God I made sure Cyborg reinforced the reinforcements of the reinforced structure of Titans Tower_. Nightwing comically thought.

Suddenly a thought occurred to Nightwing. He shifts his gaze back to the changeling. He notices that he was in the 'rest' area of the gym where towels and water is supplied, as well as other emergency medical supplies that are at the ready, if needed.

"Yo Garfield!"

"Hmm?" Garfield replies with a mouthful of water and a towel draped across his shoulders.

"You. Me. Sparring ring. Now." Nightwing commanded. Garfield gave his leader a quizzical look. "C'mon. I've gotta check out how much you've changed. Now get ova here!"

Shrugging his shoulders, he took off the towel, discarded it towards the 'used towels' bin, and took one last swig of his water before throwing the empty bottle into the recycling bin. With a short hustle, he jogged over towards the sparring ring where Nightwing waited patiently by stretching.

Garfield reciprocated, doing his own routine of a warm-up. The sudden challenge which Nightwing shouted gathered the attention of the other members within the vicinity.

After Cyborg and Starfire finished their training, they joined Raven who seemed to be entranced by the other two males in their training session. The two males, shirtless, were just starting their sparring match when the other three teammates sat on the sidelines spectating. At the enlarged boxing ring, Nightwing and Garfield were sparring but it seemed as if they were holding back. While they were sidestepping and throwing hooks left and right, it didn't even seem like the two "foes" were putting their heart into their training session, or in this case Nightwing's version of a check-up.

Suddenly Nightwing's face darkened a bit and his eye's narrowed. Garfield, watching his opponent closely noticed his sudden shift in mood. He could literally smell the serious tone that was radiating off of Nightwing's body. As time seemed to slow down dramatically for the changeling, he used his now heightened senses and reflexes to take in the environment.

As the hairs on the back of his neck slightly pricked, he felt an all too familiar chill run up and down his spine. In his peripheral vision, Garfield saw Cyborg, Starfire and Raven watch the two of them shift from being lightheartedly sparring to seriously fighting. He watched as Nightwing's charge started up with his right arm rearing up for a right hook. Garfield's eyes, in real time, dilated quickly in and out as he reacted to Nightwing's sudden burst forward.

Garfield's body reacted quickly as Nightwing's left and right hooks assaulted him with an almost inhuman like speed. Garfield was dodging left and right, parrying every other strike only having to dodge the next swing a split second later. Suddenly, Nightwing's knee came up to strike him in the stomach. Garfield blocked it by crossing both arms and taking the blow in the palms of his hands. Bad move.

Nightwing, seeing his opening took a quick and hard jab at Garfield's side. The blow was powerful enough to knock him off his feet but he curled his body into a summersault right before he hit the ground. Using the momentum, he tucked himself in and rolled himself back onto his feet. Pivoting so he was facing Nightwing, who was currently on the other side of the boxing ring, was now filled with spirit. Now having a reason to intensify the current situation, the two men sparred to their hearts' content.

All the while, Nightwing was keeping tabs and mental notes on how well or how poorly Garfield was performing. But the latter was extremely limited as he can see only improvements.

_Last time I sparred with Garfield he could only withstand so much before submitting to defeat. On average, after each sparring session he would only last up to six minutes, max. So Garfield, show me what you can do!_

Roughly fifteen minutes into the match, the two were obviously taking the training session seriously but with an air of entertainment. They were having fun regardless of the fact that they're putting more than half of their power behind their blows. The men sparred until sweat covered their bodies and slowly dripped from their brows to the rings' floor.

_Damn, dude._ Was all Nightwing could think. _Every other punch, every other jab, every other parry was met with the same force in return. He has gotten very fast and not to mention he strikes harder and more accurate than before._

Nightwing throws a trick punch at Garfield's with his left hand. As predicted Garfield dodges by leaning away from his fist and heading downwards on an angle. Just as Garfield is about to counter Nightwing's attack, Nightwing's right fist closes in to his again exposed side. Garfield had just the right amount of time to acknowledge the trick move and dodge it then counter. Garfield leans back to do a matrix-inspired bullet dodge just in time for Nightwing's fist to fly across the air, harmlessly. He uses the momentum of his back-leaning dodge to throw himself back into a backflip. In the process of doing said flip, he takes one of his legs and catches Nightwing's outstretched right hand and literally picks up Nightwing, throwing him over Garfield.

Nightwing, also being able to execute quick actions, quickly adapts to Garfield's counter and quickly tucks his body in, in midair, and does a front summersault over Garfield's body and lands on his feet about a foot in front of a now standing Garfield. Garfield, being slightly taken back at the extraordinary counter against his own, has is back completely exposed to a counterattack.

Nightwing, now having the upper hand, takes the advantage wholeheartedly and ends the match with one swift strike. Nightwing's legs swiped Garfield's feet from underneath him, sent the changeling twisting in midair and tumbling towards the ground. Nightwing then jumped on top of the green man, his knee pinning Garfield's chest to the floor and his right fist reared and ready to deliver the finishing blow.

"Yield." Panted Nightwing.

With two pats on the boxing rings' floor, smiles crept on the two sparring individuals. Nightwing got off of Garfield and left out and outstretched arm. Accepting a hand up, he chuckled softly, smiling all the while.

"Woo! That was one hell of a fight!" Cyborg retorted from the sidelines, clapping wildly.

"That was most heated, friends!" Starfire was happily bouncing and clapping in place. "I'm so glad you two had a wonderful match. Regardless of who the victor was, you both came out champions!"

"She's right, y'all. That was one hell-uva fight." Cyborg patted both men on their backs as he handed them both towels and bottled water.

"I haven't had that much fun sparring, in a long ass time." Nightwing said, in between sips. _Garfield… welcome back to the Titans._ Nightwing thought proudly.

"Likewise, Bird Brain." Garfield replied, patting his face dry of perspiration. The two competitors both brought up their fists and bumped them together. They were both chuckling at themselves and at each other for the seriousness and epicness of the previous match.

"Now," Nightwing continued, "I believe that's enough of a workout for one day. Plus, since I have to go with Starfire on todays' Patrol, I'm going to go get cleaned up. Meanwhile," Nightwing eye's both Garfield and Raven, "Garfield, take a few minutes rest then help Raven with her physical training." Both Garfield and Raven give him a quizzical look. "She's been building up her physical strength so she doesn't have to solely rely on her powers. I want you to assess how far along she is with her training and let me know, as well as each other, what are the things you need to work on and etcetera."

Garfield and Raven gave each other quick glances and both nodded their heads at one another, for approval.

"Good, now with having that said, Starfire and I will be back by tonight. We have errands to run after the patrol and other chores. You know how to reach us if something were to happen." With that having said, Nightwing and Starfire exited the gym.

"Well, sorry but you two lovebirds are on your own today." Cyborg added, heading towards the exit. "I got to head out and get some supplies for my baby and other upgrades I'll be adding around here and Titan's East. I'm out. Later." Without another word, Cyborg stepped through the sliding doors.

Standing rather dumbfounded at their current situation, silence fell between the two. After what seemed like an eternity, Garfield decided to try and ease the sudden awkwardness in the atmosphere.

"Well, it's been like five minutes, so I'm ready when you are." With a small nod from Raven, the two headed towards another boxing ring. This ring differed from the one in which Nightwing and Garfield sparred because this ring was uncontaminated with sweat from Garfield's and Nightwing's previous spar.

Garfield jumped into the ring, offering a hand to Raven which she accepted.

"So what exactly do you have to work on?" The changeling eyed the sorceress. He bent over and picked up a pair of padded target gloves.

"Well I normally would work on punches using those." She gestured towards the pair of gloves Garfield was currently wearing. "Practice jabs and other stuff. Sorta like what the boxers do."

As Garfield readied his stance, Raven positioned herself in front of him, also in her fighting stance. With a small nod from both superheroes, Raven commenced her training session with Garfield.

Raven's eyes focused on her targets, which happen to be the padded gloves Garfield was currently wearing. She let out jab after jab, her fists colliding with the changelings; right hand to left pad and vice versa. Garfield changed things up from keeping his hands centered to moving them around; making sure Raven had a good range of strikes from high to low, close to far. She kept up her barrages of jabs for a few minutes while keeping her stance strong and her fists held up at chest level. After fatigue settling within her arms she let them down, resting while panting slightly with sweat dripping from her brow.

Garfield discarded the gloves and started up some small exercises that helped Raven with her stances while being still and in motion.

"So," Garfield started explaining, "if your opponent is directly in front of you, going for a frontal assault, your feet should be like this and move like this." Raven concentrated on Garfield's foot placements, making sure to try and remember the lesson he's giving her. "And if your attacker so should happen to play dirty by side-stepping or even jumping, you can change your stance like this." He continued to show her some of the techniques he knew as she recovered from her jab practices.

After about ten minutes, Garfield gestured her over towards the center of the ring. Slightly confused as to what he was up to, Raven slowly walked towards the green boy.

"Ready yourself." Garfield commanded.

"Huh?" Raven arched her brow in confusion.

"Ready yourself," Garfield repeated. "You're going to spar with me. I believe that there are two steps in which a person can learn things affectively: Learning it and then using it."

Raven smiled at his thoughtfulness. "Ya know, Gar, you're smarter than what you lead people on to believe."

Garfield lightly chuckled at Raven's comment. "That doesn't mean I'm smart, though. Who knows, I could just be average." That resulted in the both of them smirking. "Anyways since I showed you on what to do, let's apply them. Shall we?"

Without another word Garfield slowly walked towards his teammate. Raven, reacting quickly, brought up her arms and successfully blocked Garfield's first quick strike. Garfield's left fist was successfully blocked by Raven's right. Smiling a bit, he decided to up the ante.

Using only half of his strength, making sure he didn't go overboard with Raven, he started to send multiple jabs. Raven reacting quickly was successful in blocking wave after wave of punches. Gar studies Raven's reactions and movements as he fires a barrage of punches. He watches as her focus was deadlocked on his fists.

"Hey Rae?"

"Yeah, Gar?" Raven replied in between breaths. While talking to Garfield, she was parrying and dodging his jabs.

"Instead of your focus being on my fists, rather focus here." He shortly stops his assault and gestures towards the insides of his shoulders. He starts patting the area in which the arm is attached to the body. "You should try and focus on here. Ya know why?"

Raven shakes her head.

"Because when a person punches it derives from here. So if you see movement here, you should have more time to react to it. That's because his shoulders would move first before his hands do. So if you see his shoulder move it would enable you to react more quickly against your opponents' punches, which will allow you to counter quickly and more affectively."

"I'll remember that." Raven replied, thankful. "Thanks."

"Anytime."

Garfield continued to work with Raven on her footwork as well as reaction times. Every once in a while, however, he would throw curve balls at Raven, like trying to swipe her off her feet with his. He did this so he could analyze how well Raven could adapt to a changing environment. After the third or so attempt at destabilizing her stance he concluded that she was indeed good at adapting to a changing environment.

While Garfield was assessing this, he didn't notice that he was slowly letting his guard down and as a result, Raven took notice of this she decided to go on the offensive.

Garfield, being slightly caught off guard at her sudden charge, had to sidestep to dodge Raven's first strike. As her right fist came flying towards him, he took a step back and decided to not to take advantage of her powerful punch. Stepping towards the side slowly, still keeping up his guard, he decided to point out Raven's small flaw with her attack.

"Good initial launch." He blocked three more strikes and sidestepped before being punched in the face. "But don't go all-out on your first series of strikes." This time blocking two more strikes then went on the offensive. "Your first strike made you expose your stomach and lower chest."

Raven blocked Garfield's strikes, noticing not only was he correct in pointing out her flaw but also his punches were getting slightly faster and harder. "Thanks. I'll try and keep that in mind."

Next thing the two knew was that they were sparring for a good ten minutes before fatigue hammered at their muscles. Garfield, noticing that the end of the session was near, decided to sweep Raven off her feet, literally. Suddenly, with Raven panting lightly and stance a little wobbly, Garfield launched himself forwards. Raven, anticipating the attack readied herself.

As Garfield neared Raven, he reared his right arm, as if he was going to strike with his right hand. Raven, anticipating it, countered accordingly. But what Raven didn't expect was the changeling suddenly dropped to one knee and slid towards her. Using his hands, he slid and pivoted towards her and used the momentum to strike Raven on her legs, using his own.

Raven, being completely caught off guard, lost her composure and tried to brace herself for the inevitable. As Garfield's shins collided with Raven's calves, Raven's body twisted in midair, much like what happened to Nightwing during their spar, and Raven ultimately landed on her back. As she landed with a slight _thud_, she noticed Garfield quickly and effortlessly get up from his crouched position and launched himself in the air. He quickly landed on top of Raven, pinning her down. With a satisfying smirk, Garfield was now on top of Raven in a rather suggestive position.

"Yield." Garfield said, panting lightly. Raven took a close look at the current predicament.

Firstly, she was well pinned underneath the changeling. The way he was positioned on top of her was not only suggestive but very affective, as well. Her arms were locked at her sides because Garfield's legs were pinning them both against her body and the floor. With the bulk of his body weight sitting lightly above Raven's stomach, she was affectively and hopelessly pinned.

Then she noticed that they were both covered in sweat. Not only were they both panting heavily but they also still had their eyes filled with determination: Determination to win and determination to show their worth to one another.

Lastly, she realized how close his face was to hers. She could not only see each bead of sweat that rolled off his well sculpted face but was able to see clearly into the changelings beautiful forest green eyes. She felt herself become lost within those dark green orbs. She became entranced in his eyes because she felt as if they were emanating a sense of mystery that was calling out to her. Wanting her. Needing her. She feels Garfield start to lighten up and soften. He was letting his guard down.

"Never." Raven replied. She summoned her powers and a dark energy ridden hand came out from the floor, underneath the pair. The energized hand collided with Garfield's mid-section and was suddenly launched off of Raven and across the room. He slammed against the ground on his back, with the hand forcing him down and successfully pinning him.

Raven got up swiftly and jumped into the air landing on top of Garfield. Raven, still using her powers to subdue the changeling, grabbed him by the collar. With Garfield in between Raven's legs, she conveyed a message that Garfield won't forget:

"Sorry, Garfield." Raven said softly. She bent down so her mouth was against Garfield's ear; her voice softened and whispered, "I'm not easy to subdue." Her hair lightly grazed the superhero's cheeks.

She slowly backed up so she could look into the changeling's eyes. As she looked into his dark, emerald orbs, she failed to realize the position she was in. Letting her eyes wander, she gazed over Garfield's newer physique and mentally drooled. After soaking in the spectacle that lay before her, a deep blush formed on her cheeks.

With having that said, she got off the changeling but didn't release her hold on him. She gathered her things slowly and started to head towards the sliding doors, which lead out of the gym. As the doors slid open she stopped and looked back, draping her towel over her shoulder. She smiled, almost mischievously then snapped her fingers and her hold on Garfield was lifted. Garfield repositioned himself so he was sitting Indian style on the floor.

_Wow…_ Was the only thought that was running through the young man's mind. As he relived the moment when Raven stared into his eyes, he couldn't help but smile. _God, she's so beautiful_. The Beast purred in agreement. _I mean, I know I shouldn't think about my teammate like this but just the sight of her, on top of me; panting; sweating; cloak clinging tightly on her body; the beads of sweat shimmering on her cleavage… fuck me_.

_**I hope she's always this… enticing**_.

_Yeah… you said it_.

The changeling slowly sat up straight and then took in a deep breath. With his heightened senses, he could still feel Raven's power lingering on his body. He also could smell her distinct scent of lavender, different types of incense and her natural musk that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Smiling to himself and completely content, he got up, gathered his belongings and headed towards the shower, once again.

-Somewhere Outside the Tower [Unknown Territory]-

Somewhere deep underground sat a lone figure, quietly watching the scene in front of him. The figure sat quietly and concentrated on the plethora of screens mounted on the lairs' walls. As his one exposed eye scanned from one section of his command center to the other, he couldn't help but smile beneath his mask. Displayed before him was a computer geek's wettest dream: dozens of differently sized monitors displaying information regarding his current target. Each monitor sizes range from your everyday widescreen LCD panel to panels the size of a side of a house.

The LCD panels were grouped together according to the figure it was displaying. The walls in which the panels were being mounted on were siphoned into five sections; one for each target. Each section being labeled accordingly, showed multiple angles from multiple viewpoints of his intended victims. The masked figure just scanned each section, one by one, slowly taking in the information being shown to him. He was silent as he was meticulously formulating a plan within his genius mind.

"Miranda." The dark figure called out into the darkness of the lair. Moments later a middle-aged woman appeared before him, as per requested.

"Yes, Mister Slade?" She replied, standing at the ready.

"How is our… _guest_ holding up?" As if on cue one of the LCD displays in which wasn't monitoring anything quickly switched on, revealing a figure.

Said figure was currently chained in a spread-eagle like position and was unconscious. Upon closer inspection one could tell this person was not only brutally tortured but was also captive for quite some time. The figure being hung was covered with massive bruises, dried blood clung to her damaged skin and clothing while crimson red liquid was lightly dripping from newer wounds. As Slade typed a few commands into the nearest terminal a new image appeared beside the monitor in which he was watching his captive.

The new display revealed a full-body x-ray scan of the current victim. As he clicked each section of the figures body, he could clearly see the extent of the damage he had given his victim, as well as how deep the wounds were. He could see multiple fractures, multiple breaks, hairline fractures, slight internal bleeding, the works. Even he was surprised that his guest was still alive and breathing, albeit just barely.

"Well, sir, subject KA-01A still show signs of life." Replied his servant, respectfully. "Although, I believe that anymore treatment done to subject KA-01A would prove to be fruitless. KA-01A is adamant on surviving for as long as possible."

"Thank you for the report, Miranda." Replied Slade calmly. "I believe that KA-01A is ready for phase two. Please have her ready within the hour and report back to me if she gives you any… difficulty."

"Yes, sir." Miranda quickly bows and executes her orders.

Slade reverts his gaze back to the five sections on his wall and can't help but chuckle lightly to himself. Each section he was focused upon was clearly labeled with the names: Nightwing, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy.

"Well, my dearest _friends_, enjoy this time of serenity while it lasts. I will be watching your every move and when the time comes…" Slade doesn't finish his sentence as he breaks out into a fit of maniacal laughter.

-Back at Titan's Tower-

After Garfield was finished showering for the second time today, he entered the Common room in civilian clothing and sat down at the couches. After looking at the clock and realizing that it was nearing one in the afternoon, he decided he would wait for Raven to come back from showering to go out and have lunch with her.

"But in the meantime," Garfield spoke out loud, "time to rot my brain with some good 'old fashion TV." After having slight difficulty in trying to find the remote for the TV, he gave up his goal and rather than watching TV, he started to ponder about his teammate; his Raven.

_It's been like, what? Three years since we've seen her last?_

_**Yeah, something along those lines**_. The Beast replied.

_Ya know, she's changed quite a bit_.

_**Do tell**_.

_I mean, yeah, physically she's changed quite a bit but personality wise… she's become much bolder. Heck, before we even left she was more expressive, ya know? She was still that creepy, dark and mysterious girl that was always by herself. She still secluded herself from us because she believed that she didn't have what it takes to completely control herself and her powers; she stayed away because she cared about us. She was so afraid of hurting us, the team, the Titans that she refused to allow herself to feel any kind of emotion, for fear of hurting or even potentially killing us._

_But that was when we first met. The first time we laid eyes upon one another._

_Then we defeated her father, Trigon. Fucking douchebag. As much as I hate that… thing, I have to say, I have to thank him or else I would've never been able to meet Raven._

_**True but even taking that into consideration, what he did was completely selfish and brutal. Remember that. We can't let ourselves think that just because of one deed, albeit a deed that has made us the better, we can let those who've done bad and harm, live without justice.**_

_You're sounding like Ro-I mean Nightwing, ya know… But all that aside, the Raven that we see now, the Raven we interact with now is…_

The moment the thought crossed inside Garfield's mind, Raven enters the room through the sliding doors, snapping him out of his current trance. Turning around on the sofa, he watches as Raven drains the water from her long hair, using her two hands. She releases her hair within her hands and sways it back and forth in a very cliché, movie style manner.

"…Beautiful." Garfield breathes out, quietly. Raven looks up to see the changeling slightly gawking at her from the couch. A ghost of a smile forms on her lips.

"So, Gar, what's the plan for the rest of today?" Raven questions. "Since Dick and Kori are currently off together and Victor has abandoned us because he has to run and see Karen..."

The changeling has a face that clearly says 'who?'.

"Oh, right. Bumble Bee." Garfield mouths 'oh' upon hearing this news. "If you don't have anything planed I'm fine with just sticking around the Tower and finding something to do…" Raven trails off, signifying that she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do. Garfield just shook his head.

"Nah, Rae. I have an idea?"

"Yeah? And what did you have in mind?"

"I say, we go out for lunch." Raven arches an eyebrow at his suggestion. "What? Neither of us have eaten since breakfast and it's already nearing 1:30. Plus after our intense workout session today, I believe we deserve a day out in the city. What ya say? Let's go out!" Garfield says enthusiastically.

'_Let's go out, huh?_' Raven ponders. "Alright, Garfield. But do you have any idea as to where we'll be eating lunch during the cities' lunch hour?" The empath questions.

"Are you kidding? Of course I do! I believe that I have the best place in mind for just the occasion." As the two Titans leave the tower, they fail to notice that their every movement, every word and every breath was being recorded.

As Raven followed the green hawk that was flying in front of her, she can't help but wonder as to where he was taking her.

_He's only been back, like what? Two days? I would've imagined that he forgot what this town looked like… or at least he would've asked if it was still there in case it got moved or something… But it would seem he has no doubt as to where he's going._

As the empath flew quietly behind her fellow partner she couldn't help but sense the radiating happiness from him. Wherever he is taking her, he obviously liked it.

Suddenly the green hawk made a sudden change in his course and started a nose dive. Raven, taken back slightly, followed her colleague albeit more cautiously. She watched as the hawk got lower and lower until he arched his back into a backflip and ended up landing on his feet in his normal form. She couldn't help but smile at his rather reckless antics. Upon landing next to the green changeling, she looks up from him to see a diner.

"Well Rae, welcome to Moe's Diner!" Garfield started to flail his arms widely. His response, an arched eyebrow. "Trust me. Don't knock it until you've tried it." Garfield, now holding the door open politely for Raven, gestured her to go in, which she did willingly.

Once Garfield was inside the diner, the owner by the name of Maurice, quickly spotted him and yelled for him.

"Yo! Beast Boy!" The diner owner yelled excitedly.

"Hey Moe! It's been a while." Garfield replies, high-fiving the owner.

"Indeed it has. I was about to start thinking you weren't even going to come back!" Maurice said in a rather exaggerated manner.

"Nah I could never stay away forever, dude. Plus, there are things that I love too much for me to leave." Garfield quietly gestures over towards Raven, who was behind her eyeing the diner approvingly.

"Ah… I see…" Maurice lightly nudges Garfield. "As always, it's a pleasure to have the Titans in my diner. Everything's on the house and before you can refuse…" Garfield has his right index finger up, already ready to deny his generous offer. "Think of it as a 'Welcome Back Garfield' party." Without further words, the owner showed the two Titans over to their seats and left.

"So what ya think so far, Rae?"

"Well, to be honest, I had a feeling that the owner of this place was a rather nice person. At least that was my assumption before he gave us that generous offer."

"How'd you figure that?" Garfield started to scan through the menu, which evidently changed in the past few years.

"It feels somewhat… nostalgic, I guess. It had a nice atmosphere when we walked in. I guess it's one of those things I felt."

"Ah… well I found this place a while back and last time I was here, they had the best Caesar salad and Triple Berry Pie… yum…" Garfield literally started drooling at the mere thought of tasting their pies.

Raven chuckled lightly at his childish antics. "I'll take your word for it, Gar." After reviewing the menu for a minute, Raven decided on what she was going to order. Just as she placed the menu back on the table, the waitress walked over.

"Hey guys, I'm Melissa and I'll be your server today. What can I get ya guys to drink?" The waitress politely entered.

"I'll take a water with lemon and the lovely lady will have Jasmine Green tea." Garfield ordered. Again, in response to his comment he received yet another arched eyebrow.

"Very well." The waitress replied, writing down the orders. "Are you guys ready to order or do you think you need another minute or two?"

"Well, I'm ready to order. I don't know about Garfield though…" The two females now eye Garfield who had a rather painful look on his face while looking at the menu… which was being turned upside-down and all around.

"Ugh…" Garfield groans. "Moe!" Moe comes back from the back and eyes Garfield.

"Yo."

"Surprise me."

"Very well, Mr. Logan." Without further questions, Moe returns back into the kitchen.

"And what about you Miss Raven?"

"I'll take the lemon chicken with rice and veggies."

"Thank you. I'll get your drinks and your orders will be out shortly." Melissa politely gathers the menus and leaves the two Titans.

"Ya want to know something interesting, Rae?" Garfield asks while looking out the window.

"What's the Gar?" The waitress drops off the drinks on the tabletop then leaves to serve the next set of customers. Raven takes a small sip of her tea, smiling as she feels the warm liquid quench her thirst.

"You want to know the last time I was here?" Garfield continues to look out the window. His eyes were slightly closed and almost glazed over. Raven could sense nostalgia and sadness radiating off him. She reaches over the table and takes Garfield's hand into hers and she gives him a reassuring squeeze.

"When was that, Gar?" She watches as he stops gazing out the window and looks Raven straight in her own deep violet eyes.

"The last time I saw her." Without even having mentioned her name, Raven already knew as to whom he was referring to. Terra.

"You failed to explain to me, the rest of the Titans, what actually happened back then… clearly." Raven replied, still holding Garfield's hand.

"Well, you know how I told you guys that I found Terra again, right?" Raven replied with a small nod while taking small sips from her tea. "Well, while you guys were fighting that elemental-morphing-adapting-thing, I ran into her. After I confronted her, she told me she didn't remember anything after waking up in that cave."

At that moment the waitress Melissa came by and dropped off Raven's lemon chicken and Garfield's special dish that was an assortment of veggies and what looked and smelled like vinaigrette dressing. Raven saw Garfield's face falter slightly.

"Last time I was here, I had this exact same meal… " Garfield slowly zones out but quickly recovers a few seconds later. "Anyways, after a few days of research and borderline-stalking, I've finally concluded that she was telling the truth. She doesn't remember anything at all.

"At that time, I thought things could back to the way things were, ya know? Like having Terra with us Titans again and we would all be fighting crime together. But I kinda knew, in the back of my mind that, that reality was far from coming true. But one could hope, eh?"

Both Raven and Garfield slowly ate their meals while Garfield recapped with the events after Things Change.

"Well that gave me a lot to think about. Gave me time to think about people… things… life… ya know? Stuff like that."

"Do you love her?" Raven asked seriously. She places her knife and fork back on the table, dabs her mouth with her napkin and looks at Garfield with steady eyes. After a few moments, with Garfield in deep thought, he replies.

"Yeah. I was." Garfield saw Raven's eyes' flash sadness before recovering herself a split second later. "But if you were to ask me if I still loved her now, I would say yes." Raven's breath hitched in her throat due to his comment.

"But I don't think it would be in a romantic type way." Garfield continues. Raven now eye's the changeling skeptically. "It would be more platonic than romantic now. I mean, sure, I was head over heels for the blonde at first but that doesn't mean after her betrayal, I would forever ban her from my heart and mind.

"I will always have a soft spot for those I loved. It will never go away and it will never always fully heal. I guess you can call it the scars of my heart." Garfield chuckles lightly at his analogy. ", but if she were to come back from the blue, I would still welcome her with open arms. That includes her having and not having her memory restored.

"But to answer the more critical question; I would say no. If she were to come back, I wouldn't fall back in love with her. I wouldn't want to start or continue a relationship with her because not only did she hurt me deeply, but she also harmed the team… hurt you." Garfield said the last part quietly.

"She had her chance… no, we had our chance and it didn't work out. Plus, I figured I should start moving on to bigger and better things. She would've wanted me to and I know she wouldn't have minded. My heart and mind is currently clouded with other things… more pressing matters than my past relationship with the geomancer." Both Garfield and Raven finished their meals and now were waiting on their dessert: two slices of Triple Berry Pie.

"What about you, Rae? Anyone in your life I would have to beat up if he or she broke your heart." Garfield wiggled his eyebrows.

"Real funny Gar but no, I don't have anything or anyone like that in my life… currently." Raven replied. "I guess you could say that I'm still waiting on my partner. Plus, I barely go out anyways so there's barely a chance for any of the lads in this city to have a piece of this." Raven gestures to her whole self.

"No offence sweetheart but if anyone as much as looks at you the wrong way, he'll have to deal with me." Garfield stated sternly.

"Oh, my knight in shining armor." Raven sarcastically coos. Garfield gets out of his chair and walks up to Raven while she is still sitting in hers. He takes her right hand, goes down to one knee, lightly bows his head and kisses the top of her hand.

"My lady." Garfield curtseys. This resulted in Raven blushing.

Melissa walks on over with their desserts and looks at Garfield questionably. Then her eyes were almost bulging out of her head.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt your proposal!" Melissa shrieked. The two heroes went just as bug-eyed as the waitress.

"What?"

"Whoa?"

"No, no, no, no, no…" Garfield suddenly shot off his one knew and jumped into the air. "You got it all wrong… I wasn't proposing!"

"Yeah, it was just a simple misunderstanding and bad timing." Added Raven.

"Oh… shucks." Both Titans stare at the waitress. "I was actually hoping that you two would end up together… heh…" Melissa starts chuckling to herself. "Heh, my bad… anyways! Enjoy your dessert!" Without taking a moment to breathe, Melissa shot back into the kitchen in a flash.

"Well… that was… " Garfield started.

"… Interesting… " Raven ended. Without much interruptions or awkward moments, the two heroes finished their dessert, paid their respects and walked out of the diner.

As the two Titans left Moe's diner, Garfield gestured towards Raven to follow him, which she did obediently. The two walked in silence, both being lost in their own thoughts about each other. But they soon found themselves at Jump City All Natural Preserve; basically their park and wildlife preserved area. This place was currently buzzing with not only with wildlife but also the city life as residents from both the city and outer residencies.

People come from the tri-state area to come to this place because of its natural beauty and come serene atmosphere. Thus, the Titans found themselves amongst the many couples and families that enjoyed the all-natural scenery and animal life.

"Hey Rae?" Garfield quietly asks.

"What's up, Gar?"

"Would you mind if we took a little detour up ahead?" Garfield points out that they were indeed following a set path that people took. The particular route they were following was the more scenic route and those for people who wanted to enjoy each other's company as well as the scenery. Sort of like a romantic walk in a very serene view.

"Sure. But in all honesty, I really don't mind walking this particular path with you..." The dark empath hinted.

"It's not that I don't mind enjoying this view and atmosphere with you as well…" The changeling defended. "It's just that I have a more personal tour I want to take you on. That is, if you don't mind." Garfield put out his hand, hoping that she would take it.

"Of course, Gar. Just as long as I don't end up being ditched or something…" The sorceress looks down as if the ground seemed interesting all of a sudden. Garfield mentally noted her behavior and reminded himself to ask her about it later.

Raven takes his hand gingerly and was slowly being lead towards a set of benches off on the side of the path. But he didn't drag her to sit down at said benches, but instead he moved behind them and got on his hands and knees.

"You might want to get down. It's a bit of crawling where we're heading towards." Garfield informs while smiling sheepishly with one hand behind his neck. Raven just rolls her eyes and follows her beloved.

After merely five minutes of crawling through rather thick brush, and another fifteen walking through an overgrown pathway, it slowly started to open up. Raven soon found herself coming into a clearing with vibrant green grass and a single large rock in the center.

Garfield was already at the center of the small field, sitting on top of the boulder with his feet hanging over the side. While sitting on top of the makeshift lawn chair, Garfield just watched Raven as she took in the scenery.

Raven, to say the least, was in complete awe as she took in the atmosphere and view. She scanned the area before her and felt as if she were on a movie set. The grass was naturally grown and was long enough that when the wind picked up, you could see the wind bands in streaks going over the grass. The place was extremely well lit when the sun was out and she could even imagine how clear the night sky would be at night. All in all it was absolutely stunning and beautiful.

"How'd you manage to find such a place, Gar?" Raven asked, still soaking it in.

"Well, this boulder right here," Garfield slapped the large rock with his hands, "wasn't here when we found it." Garfield replied, still watching Raven.

"Oh… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" Garfield just waved his hand.

"There's nothing to be sorry for, Rae. In all honesty we found it by happenstance. We were just enjoying ourselves when I touched her hand, she lost focus on her powers and we came tumbling down here. I guess you could call it fate or sheer dumb luck." Garfield chuckled lightly. Garfield then gestured her to sit next to him on the boulder and she did so without hesitation.

"Hey Gar," Raven said while she rested her head on his shoulder, "tell me a story."

"Huh?" Garfield asks while wrapping his arms around Raven's waist. "Well, I'm not sure if I can tell you a good story… but I think I might have a small tale I could tell." Garfield paused and looked Raven straight into her eyes. He watched as the most beautiful violet eyes stared back into his wild green eyes.

"Once, there was a young superhero called Beast Boy. He was green, a jokester and all around great guy." Both Raven and Garfield chuckled as Garfield told his story. "When he first met the Titans, he was as happy as a kid on Christmas could be. He met four wonderful and awesome friends. They were Robin, Starfire, Cyborg and finally, Raven." Garfield squeezed his arms tighter around her waist to nudge her.

"He fought countless villains and enemies while he lived with them in their infamous Tower. Almost every day, he would start fights with his best friend Cyborg during the morning when it came to what to eat for breakfast. This was because was an advent carnivore while Beast Boy was a full on vegan. Let's just say the mornings were intolerable. Especially for Raven, for she is a person who thrives off of silence, serenity and tea.

"Our lives together have sent us all to the edge and back again. We have fought with ourselves, with each other and even things from other universes! Whether it be us fighting Slade, fighting your father or even fighting what's for breakfast, we would always, in the end, end up victorious. But our greatest victories as well as battles would be with ourselves. At least, that's what I believe and they would always involve the entire team.

"I can say for the most part that one of my greatest battles was with me when it came to Terra." Garfield's eyes never left Raven's as he tells his tale to her. "I will not lie to you, Raven because she was indeed my first crush. Love would be too strong of a word for it because I was immature to the feelings I felt for her at that time. Crush would be better because it was indeed my first true crush and likewise could be said from her perspective.

"Even though our relationship only lasted for a short while, it was still true. Regardless of what others might say or think, one thing was for certain: we liked each other. Even at the very end after she betrayed us and saved us, I still believe that, that attraction was there. She told me, at the very end that I should be happy, whether or not it was with her. Even until this day, I thank her because she was right: I have the right to be happy and I shouldn't let the past haunt me forever. I should be happy with whomever I want to."

Garfield pauses yet again but it wasn't because he was becoming emotional of his story, no. it was because he was looking at Raven , who was currently in his arms, in an embrace and her face was lit with a smile. To Garfield, her smiles mean a thousand times more than your average everyday smile from everyday people. This was special, this was beautiful.

"You should smile more often, Rae." Garfield whispers. "It really suits you."

"You think so?"

"Definitely." Garfield replies with a genuine smile of his own. "Hey Rae, we should start heading back now." Raven, finally taking her eyes off the changeling, looks up into the sky. When they first arrived at Garfield's secret location, it was clear and blue but now the blue was replaced with black and was dotted with stars. It was a full moon out and the entire opening in which they were sitting was completely illuminated from the moons glow. Words could barely describe how beautiful everything was. Everything about today was just… perfect.

As Garfield morphed into a hawk once more, Raven took a few seconds before leaving the sacred grounds. After taking one last mental image Raven summoned her powers and started flying towards Garfield. While flying the two Titans had the same thoughts run through their minds.

"The city is really beautiful at night, don't you think so, Gar?" Raven's question was soon replied with an enthusiastic sounding squawk. After being in such a beautiful clearing for most of the afternoon and ending with a flight over a city at night was pure bliss for both heroes.

As Titans Tower came into view, the two Titans landed on the beach located in front of their home. As Garfield landed he could feel the sand give way underneath his feet. He looks up at the tower and can't help but smile.

_Home is where the hearts at, eh?_ Garfield thought to himself. _Man 'home sweet home' definitely comes into mind_. Garfield then turns around in time to see Raven land gracefully in front of him. With his back towards the tower, Garfield once again places an outstretched hand for Raven to take. But Raven hesitates.

"Hey Gar, please don't take this the wrong way." Raven starts. Garfield replies with his hand still outstretched towards her.

"Whatever it is Rae, just say it to me straight."

"Coming back after all these years… I can honestly say that I'm extremely happy. But things have changed since you've been gone." Raven looks down at her feet. "I hope you realize that things can't always go back to the way things were…" Garfield just shakes his head.

"I know, Raven. Trust me, I know." Garfield walks up to her and stops as he's mere inches away from her. He takes his right hand and cups it underneath Raven's chin and lifts her face up to meet with his. "I can honestly say that I don't expect things to go back to the way it was. I wouldn't want that. I know things have changed and I want to meet and experience those changes. I want to be there with the team… with you."

The wind suddenly picks up which resulted in Raven's long hair billowing in the wind, behind her. Garfield notices the bangs flowing wildly in the wind and takes his hands away from her chin. Instead he takes his right hand and takes Raven's bangs and tucks it behind her left ear.

Garfield then slowly starts to lean into Raven. Raven noticing his movements, mirrors and her hearts start to race and she slowly starts to close her eyes. Just as they close in, Garfield suddenly stops. Raven, feeling Garfield's sudden change in mood, opens her eyes to see Garfield with his eyes wide open.

Garfield sniffs the air and Raven reciprocates. Both of their mouths close and Raven suddenly realizes why Garfield was suddenly taken out of his romantic trance. The inside of her mouth was lined with the taste of copper, heavy copper.

Garfield suddenly turns around and starts dashing towards the entrance of Titans Tower with Raven following suit. Garfield stops abruptly 100 feet from the towers entrance with his faze fixated at the entrance. Raven stops next to Garfield and grabs onto his shoulder to get his attention. She could hear Garfield growl underneath his breathing as his gaze intensifies at the towers entrance. As Raven squints to try and see what Garfield was looking at, she gasps at the sight of a body.

As the two Titans closed the distance between them and the body, realization struck Garfield like a bolt of lightning.

What was laid before the two was a female body.

It was Terra.

And she was covered in blood.

* * *

Author's Zone:

Again, I deeply apologize for everyone that is or was following this fanfic for the sudden disappearance. I really don't have a good excuse for my absence but rest assured, I am back but I will only be updating when I can. It can vary from every two weeks to every month. But the bottom line is: I will be updating. No more 'couple months of absence' bullshit. Again, I'm sorry.

Also I hope this wasn't too confusing or fast paced. The original copy that was typed some ages ago, have been warped and redone over 17 times. So technically speaking there are 17 different versions of this one chapter because me being a completely indecisive individual as well as OCD, I didn't like how they came out and had to refine them. I guess you could say it was a contributing factor as to why I was so delayed in updating again. =X

I also apologize to Robin/Nightwing fans because as I was writing this, my friends who were reviewing the story before I posted, noticed that he was being a bit of a douche when he was analyzing Garfield. I didn't intentionally write him off as that but I'm sorry if it did. I just hoped it added the desire effect of Garfield's change.

Also, rest assured that questions will be answered in the near future. The main one being 'where did Garfield go in those three years and what happened.' Be patient as things are slowly being unfolded since you now know of the main villain of the story.

I give my thanks, in advance, to all the people who still stay with this story and want to see it through. This is for all my loyal fans, friends and all those who gave me inspiration for this fanfic. 'Till next time!


	4. Chapter 3: Pains of the Past

Disclaimers: Disclaimers: I do not own Teen Titans nor do I claim to own anything in this story.

A/N: Miss me? Sorry that I don't really have much to say… Maybe I'll put and Authors Note at the end of this chapter but thus far… I don't know. Whatever, anyways, I hope you all enjoy the next installment of Evolution: Times of Change.

In case anyone is confused:

"Dialogue" – Basically stuff being said out loud.

_Thoughts_ – Mainly thoughts but will also signify the importance of the italicized word and /or display actions/sound effects.

_**Beast's Thoughts**_ – This is the Beast's thoughts/dialogue with Beast Boy.

'_Emotion's Dialogue'_ – In single quotations and italicized would be the thoughts of Raven's inner emotions: I figured they should be incorporated into this story more heavily than originally planned.

* * *

_Previously on Evolution: Times of Change:_

_Garfield suddenly turns around and starts dashing towards the entrance of Titans Tower with Raven following suit. Garfield stops abruptly 100 feet from the towers entrance with his face fixated at the entrance. Raven stops next to Garfield and grabs onto his shoulder to get his attention. She could hear Garfield growl underneath his breathing as his gaze intensifies at the towers entrance. As Raven squints to try and see what Garfield was looking at, she gasps at the sight of a body._

_As the two Titans closed the distance between them and the body, realization struck Garfield like a bolt of lightning._

_What was laid before the two was a female body._

_It was Terra._

_And she was covered in blood._

* * *

Evolution: Times of Change – Chapter 3: Pains of the Past, Present and an Unforeseeable Future

_Beep…_

_Beep…_

_Beep…_

Within the confines of Titans Tower there was a bit of chaos, a bit of confusion and skepticism but, above all was confusion.

"Well, Dick, what would you have done in my position, huh?" The green changeling argued with his fellow colleague.

"I don't know, Garfield." Replied the troubled leader. "This is just so sudden. But I can't help but feel as if…"

"As if this is more than a mere coincidence." The dark sorceress finished. All eyes were on the extraordinarily large window-screen in the Common Room. Being displayed were the various cameras that were housed within the Medical Wing and what it inhabited. Lying on top of one of the various cots that were within the room was Terra, an old friend, colleague, enemy and savior.

Many different graphs and sensors were also being displayed on their large window-screen as they revealed information in real time. As the silence deepens between the heroes, all that could be heard was the monotonous beeping emitting from the electrocardiograph.

Each and every Titan was watching the screen, intensely. No one knew what to say, what to talk about. They only know how to question their current situation. Terra showing up all of a sudden and within a reasonable timeframe to categorize it as 'too-close-to-be-a-coincidence,' was a little nerve racking. Not to mention her condition was beyond critical and the mark that was _burned_ into her skin was enough to make each and every Titan shudder.

Garfield then slowly went to one of the terminals that was in front of the oversized display and once again, sifted through the images they took of Terra, for data storage purposes. He couldn't help but linger on one specific photo, the one with her brand.

The letter '_S' _was seared into Terra's lower back.

"Sorry guys, but you'll have to excuse me," Nightwing added, "I gota think this through…"

No one had to ask as to where he was headed towards. They all knew.

"My apologies, as well, friends," added the Tamaranian Princess, "I will accompany my boyfriend in the Room of the Evidence."

With small nods from the remaining members of the Titans, Starfire joined her beloved.

"Do you guys believe Slade is back… after all these years?" Cyborg quipped.

"We have no reason to believe he isn't." Raven countered. "It does seem like something he would do; something sadistic, mental and demonic. It would seem he would not only want to leave his mark but send a message, as well."

"Yeah I know, but…" Suddenly small red strobe light started emitting from Cyborg's arm. "Her electroencephalogram test just spiked." The Titan's just stared at their cybernetic friend. "Oh, right. I hooked Terra up to an EEG machine to check for brain activity and it just spiked meaning she's starting to wake up.

"Should we tell Starfire and Nightwing that she's waking?" Raven questioned.

"We'll get them when we have to." Replied Cyborg. "I don't think we should overwhelm her with people just yet. She's been through a lot."

"That's an understatement." Garfield added.

"Actually, having said that, I believe Garfield should see her… alone…" Cyborg's eye twitched nervously from Raven to Garfield. "I have security on level nine and I can watch the feed in the Control Room so I don't interfere. Plus, I think you have a better chance at getting information," Cyborg eye's Garfield, "than all of us combined, no offence to anyone."

"Although that may be true, I would feel better if someone were to accompany me." Garfield thought, carefully. "And no offence to you Vic, but would you mind, Raven?" Garfield looked towards the pale sorceress. "I could sure use your empathy in trying to get her to tell us anything important."

"Albeit we had our differences Terra and I, I believe that being there with you shouldn't result in any complications." Raven added. "And I do believe that Garfield's right in using my powers as a crutch as we reintroduce ourselves to her… again."

"All-righty. You two, best of luck." Cyborg turned around and headed towards the Towers' Control Room, leaving the two.

"Well, here goes everything." Garfield chided.

With a slight nod from Raven the two headed towards the Medical Wing of Titans Tower.

-In the Evidence Room-

"I don't know what to make of this!" Nightwing angrily shouted into the air. "It's been _years_, Star, _years_! Why would Slade choose now out of all the time he's been missing? And why did he have to choose _her_ again!"

"I do not know my beloved." Starfire had her hands on her boyfriends' shoulders and was messaging them in an attempt to help relieve Nightwing's stress. "But whatever he has planned, you and I, as well as the rest of our family, knows that the moment he reveals himself, we will beat him."

"As much as I agree with you Star, I can't help but feel… scared." Nightwing looked completely defeated. "For all the time we spent protecting Jump City, he is the one enemy that is the most challenging. He excels at finding our weak spots; flaws in our strategies, flaws in our own character for Christ's sake!" Nightwing slowly walks over towards the main table in which he uses to compile all the information he has current on Slade and places his balled up fists upon it, gently.

"I do not disagree with your assessment of our nemesis," Starfire walks up behind Nightwing and gently eases him into the chair that was next to him, "but it does not matter what happens, we will always be a family." She wraps her arms around her lover and kisses the back of his neck tenderly. "There is no force alive, both here on Earth and on Tamaran, that could separate us; separate me from you." Starfire leans over Nightwing and kisses him lightly on his lips.

"I love you, Starfire." Nightwing lifts himself out of the chair, turns and wraps his arms around her waist. "Always and forever." They both kiss each other whilst in their embrace.

-In the Medical Wing of Titans Tower-

Both Garfield and Raven were sitting on a nearby cot while looking at Terra. They waited silently for her to fully waken and watched as she slowly stirred from her unconscious state.

"How long has it been, Gar?" Raven asked quietly.

"Remember when that material-adapting monster hit in downtown Jump? I would assume that would be the last time any of us acknowledged her existence. That and when she brought down Slade." Garfield thought. "I would assume a little over five years."

"I wonder what kind of hell he put her through…" Raven thought out loud.

"We're just going to have to ask, now won't we?" Garfield's face held hesitation as well as genuine concern for the geomancer. Not only did Raven notice his current behavior, she could feel it.

"Why did you pursuit her back then?" _Shit, why did I ask that out loud? _ Raven mentally scorned herself.

"You know, in all honesty, I thought that she would still be the same old Terra. Ya know the one we first met on the outskirts of Jump City?" Garfield's gaze slowly changed from the quietly stirring blonde to the sorceress beside him. "I thought we would be able to start new and add a new member to our pack."

_Pack?_ Raven mentally noted.

"I guess I had high hopes that we could start our relationship from scratch. Begin as friends and see where that ends up."

_Does he truly believe that Terra is the only person who would return his affection?_ Raven thought sadly to herself. Her hands gripped the end of the cot, albeit unconsciously, as she thought about her fellow changeling.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I would have to say you seem to have quite an affection for her… still." Raven randomly said. Garfield was shocked what Raven was deducing to.

"Listen, Rae… I don't think –" Garfield started to say.

Suddenly Terra's body started to stir and as her eyes fluttered open she squinted her eyes to the bright overhead laps.

"Oh, here," Garfield quietly stood from where he sat, "let me get that for you. Sorry if it was a little bright." After a rather audible _click_ the overhead lamps were turned off and Terra opened her eyes to a rather warmly lit room. As soon as she blinked away the tiredness from her eyes and let them focus, only one word formed in her mind.

"Beast Boy?" Terra's voice was hoarse and a bit raspy.

"Hey, what's up?" Garfield's arm reached up and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Raven elbows him in the side lightly at his childish antics.

"You're just going to say 'what's up' after all this time?" Raven teased.

"Raven? Is that really you, too?" Terra slowly rose from her cot and placed her un-casted arm behind her to help her sit up straight.

"Well, do you know of anyone else who has pale skin, a chakra in her forehead and a head of natural purple hair?" Raven sarcastically quipped. A small smile found its way to her face and her expression softened. "Yeah, it's us."

"Oh my," Terra gasped, "look at how much you've changed, BB." A blush formed on Garfield's face from Terra's compliment. "You're no longer that little jokester I met during my cross country tour, eh?" Terra's gaze slowly sized up Garfield.

"What can I say?" Garfield replied, his hand still sheepishly behind his head. "I went through quite a transformation a short while ago and ta da! Beast Man is now standing before you, ladies and gentleman!"

Raven lightly smacked the back of Garfield's head for his sudden outburst.

_As much as his childish nature can annoy the living piss out of me_,Raven thought, _it surely did help lighten the mood in here. I can already feel the awkward tension between the two start to slip away into nostalgia._

Raven looked at Terra who began to laugh heartily at Garfield's sudden change in mood and can't help but feel a bit happier herself.

_She may not necessarily reflect 'genius' if you count our previous encounter, but I have to admit that she is spot on, on how much Garfield has really changed. But in all seriousness and taking out the current circumstances of Terra's recuperation, she herself has changed a lot as well._ Raven began to analyze the geomancer sitting on the cot across from her.

Terra's appearance does resemble, greatly, of her younger self. She still had stunning yellow eyes as well as a head full of waist-length golden blonde hair. Her height, like Raven, didn't alter too much from their youth as they are still shorter than the rest of the Titan's. Terra's body also matured quite a bit but still held that 'rockin' babe' look that grabbed young male's attention; in this case grabbed Garfield's attention instantly during their first encounter.

Raven noticing the more matured version of Terra wondered if she, herself has matured along with her body.

"Now there's the BB I used to know." Terra smiled genuinely. "But in all honesty, I like the new BB that's standing before me. You've filled out quite a bit over the years and you now stand taller than me." Terra pouted jokingly at her last remark. "But let us not forget how much you've changed, dear Raven." The sudden attention being focused on Raven caught her off guard.

"Well, not as much as you or Garfield, I must admit." Raven denied lightly while recovering from zoning out to analyze Terra.

"What are you talking about, Rae?" Garfield countered. "Although you and Terra are close in height, you are now the shortest member of the team," resulting in Raven showing her infamous glare towards Garfield, "you have grown into quite the young lady." Raven blushed lightly at the comment. "Last time I checked, you went from being the lonely, albeit self-inflicted sorceress of Titans Tower to…" Garfield paused and brought up his hand to his chin to pose his "thinking stance." "…An angel."

"My, my Garfield," Terra interjected, "you sure have grown up, haven't you?"

"Nah, I'm still a kid at heart and always will be." Garfield smiled proudly.

One small tear escaped from Terra's eyes at Garfield's whole heartedness and she momentarily lost feeling in her arm in which she was leaning on. In a flash, Garfield was there, by her side and caught her as she fell. He gently laid her back down on the cot and still held his signature goofy-grinned smile.

Raven involuntarily clutched her right hand to her heart as she felt a small pang of jealousy.

_After all this time he still cares quite deeply for her… doesn't he?_ Raven thought to herself. _Apart from Starfire, Garfield probably has the biggest heart out of everyone here. No one truly deserves him, especially me. How can a heart that's so full of light be paired with one of pure darkness?_

'_Simple my dear.' _Love's voice rang throughout Raven's head. _'It's called balance. Yin and Yang.'_

Then Garfield's face changed instantly from smiling to a face full of concern. He backed up slowly and took his place beside Raven once more.

"Terra…" Garfield started to speak but stopped. His face contorted a bit as he tried to formulate how he's going to talk to Terra. "I don't know if I can say this any nicer without sounding too forward, but…" Garfield took a deep breath before continuing. "We need to know what happened." Raven's and Garfield's hands, unbeknownst to them, interlaced themselves with one another's.

Garfield's gaze rose to look into Terra's eyes. She could literally see how serious and caring he is. Her heart fluttered a bit and she started to blush when she realized that there were people who still cared; that he still cared.

"You know, you've changed more than you let on, BB." Terra restated. She looked at both Garfield and Raven when she spoke. "You too, Raven. And I can already tell that the change was for the better." Terra hesitated before continuing.

"I bet you guys, and the rest of your team, have countless questions to ask of me. And I already know you guys expect me to give you information on Slade…" Terra paused and started to cough lightly. Upon hearing how dry her cough sounded, this time Raven got up from the cot and headed towards the sink. She filled up a glass of water half full and brought it over for Terra. Terra drank it a bit hastily and when she was finished the glass was dry.

"Thank you."

"No problem." Raven replied nonchalantly.

"Anyways, as I was saying…" Terra continued. "There is nothing I can really do about giving you any information regarding Slade."

"In all honesty," Raven jumped in, "we weren't really expecting much information, or any for that matter, on Slade. It would be very surprising if you did since he's such a conniving, sneaky fucking douche bag.

"Touché." Garfield added. Terra laughed lightly at the two before her.

"But to answer your question, I guess I'll start off from the last time we met, BB."

-In the Control Room of Titans Tower-

Cyborg watched the scene before him unfold upon his various monitors. As he was listening intently on the conversation between Raven, Garfield and Terra, he also kept his cybernetic eye fixated upon all of Terra's vitals. He made sure he kept a close eye on her temperature, heartbeat and other various important information regarding the geomancer, in case something drastic were to happen. Knock on wood.

Suddenly an incoming call interrupted his thought process and looks down on his left arm to see who was calling. Bumble Bee's face suddenly appears on his forearm.

"Bee?" Cyborg's eyebrow was arched in surprise.

"Hey, what's up Metal-Man?" Bee enthusiastically replied.

"You won't believe the kind of… drama that's been going around the tower as of late."

"Oh? Do tell." Bee seemed genuinely intrigued by the twist of events.

"Want to meet… say in an hour? Here at the original Tower?" Cyborg hoped.

"Sure thing, Sparky."

"All-righty then!" Out of nowhere, Cyborg pulls out his white chef's hat and _plops_ it lightly on his mechanical head. "Chef Cyborg will fill you in."

Bee's response was a very un-amused looking face as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Heh… ok I'll see you in a few." Without risking anymore stupid moments he hangs up with Bee and made sure his sensors were all properly synced with the Towers security and Medical Wing. With having that done he hurriedly went down to the kitchen to prepare a meal for both himself and his guest.

-In the Medical Wing of Titan's Tower-

"BB, the last time we met, was what? Give or take when I was still in school, right?" Terra began.

"Yeah, you were attending Murakami High, if I recall correctly…" Garfield thought out loud.

Both Raven and Terra stared at Garfield as he was recapping events that happened over five years ago.

"…?... What?" Asked a slightly bewildered Garfield.

"Nothing." The two females said simultaneously.

"As I was saying," Terra continued, "back then, when you first approached me… I wasn't lying to you, BB." Terra's gaze slowly lowered to her lap while she spoke. "I really had no recollection of who you were when you approached me then. I swore to you that I didn't know you and I meant it.

"But after that incident my life slowly started changing for the better. At least that's what I believed at the time. About two years later and roughly two months after I graduated from Murakami High I was approached by a man with white hair that offered me a job at Jump City's Geological Preserve and Research Center, or better known as the JCGPR. Since I graduated in the top 5 percent of my class and had specialization in geology, I figured 'why not,' right?

"Straight out of high school and already I had a job offer in which people in my field would kill for. Who wouldn't? Well after meeting with my recruiter, who by the way was called Slade Wilson, we agreed that I would be working underneath him. He, at the time was the Head of Research and Development, Special Development Team." Terra looked up from her lap only to see two bewildered faces.

"I told you guys!" Terra threw her arms up in the air in a very dramatic fashion. "I had no memory before I woke up in that cave! Plus, I had to check and make sure the job offer was legit. So I checked his position and background to make sure it was on the level. I'm not that dumb." Terra pouted.

Raven lightly cleared her throat after Terra's last statement. Garfield glances over towards Raven with a small smirk on his face.

"After I did my research, I saw that everything was on the level and I accepted his job offer." Terra continued. "So after the confirmation of his legitimacy, I officially started working at JCGPR three months after my graduation. I worked under Mr. Wilson for nearly two years. I worked on everything from small side projects to multi-million dollar contracts with people all around the world. Even though we did a lot of 'public' time, he also had me working on his own personal projects.

"He started having me meet him in large warehouses across the country. That's when I started to realize that Slade was _very_ connected because the places where I went to were not only extremely heavily secured but were mostly held underground.

"After a month or so rendezvousing in these secret locations he then asked me to meet him somewhere in the outskirts of Jump. He had me restrained as he feared that I would've retaliated. But what he did to me that day was… restore my memory; in a sense.

"He placed me in a very, now that I think about it, cliché high-tech brain-like altering machine. Like the ones you find in the older 1980's sci-fi movies." Terra paused as she slightly chuckled to herself on her bad joke. "Anyways, back on track… That night my memory was restored and I remembered everything. _Everything_. I do believe, till this day, that the machine also brought my powers back."

Terra got up slowly from her cot and braced herself against it as she stood. Her eyes and hands started to glow their infamous yellow aura and outside Titans Tower, a large boulder shot up from underneath the waves of Jump City Bay and hovered just mere feet outside the window of their room.

"It would appear that we would have our Geomancer back." The moment Garfield said those words, the boulder suddenly became unstable and went crashing back into the bay. Garfield's attention shot from the window to Terra and notices her panting heavily.

"Not yet, BB." Terra said in between breaths. "I may have my powers back but I'm still running on empty. Anyways besides the fact that I do, indeed have my powers back there is still a lot more you need to know.

"The instant I regained both my powers and memories, the most prominent thing on my mind at that very moment was you, the Teen Titans and how Slade used me." Terra took a few deep breaths and she slowly closed her eyes only to have tears start streaking down her face.

"I lost all sense of right and wrong at that moment because all I could feel was rage. All I felt was complete and utter hatred for that man and I used my powers to level the entire facility. After I decimated that God forsaken building and walked out of the rubble, Slade was standing in front of me… waiting for me." Terra started to sob quietly.

"I guess you can say he knew how it would turn out after the… procedure. He was standing there with a cloaked figure who held a very large rifle and hundreds of his minions. The next thing I knew was that he lifted his hand and I was shot with some kind of electricity based weapon, a Taser like device and I was completely paralyzed.

"Then he said a line I would never forget: 'Welcome back dear apprentice. Unfortunately for you I will take sweet revenge and show you the definition of _pain_.' As I was lying on the ground, completely immobilized, he takes out a syringe and injects something into my neck which knocked me out."

Silence fell between the three figures in the Medical Wing of Titans Tower. Both Garfield and Raven knew that the next question they had to ask was going to be downright brutal. But neither of them could escape the fact that they had to ask because if they didn't, they would never truly understand the damage that was done to Terra. They would never know how to truly help her if they didn't know what they were dealing with.

"Terra," Garfield started, "believe me when I say 'I really don't want to ask this question' because I really don't, but I have to. For us to understand what you went through and how to help you…" Garfield took a deep breath.

"We need to know what he did to you." Raven finished. Raven lightly squeezed Garfield's hand that was still interlaced with her own. Raven looks from Garfield's hand to Garfield's face, smiling a small smile all the while. She then looks back to Terra. "I know you and I have never really saw eye to eye but as Gar – Beast Boy said, we need to know for us to truly help you. And you should know more than most that we are always willing to help."

Garfield glances to the sorceress sitting beside him and gave her a small smile while giving her a reassuring squeeze back. Terra's head was tilted down and her eyes were still closed as they asked her to remember what she had experienced.

"If you must know then I guess it can't be helped." Terra lifted her head slowly to look at the two sitting before her. "But I must warn you, I can't remember it all and I will try my best to tell you what I was conscious for."

The two Titans just nodded in acknowledgement and unconsciously held their breaths.

"When I first woke up, I believe it was not too long after I was knocked out in front of the wrecked facility. I was bound and gagged to an operating table. I lied there under a surgical light and the rest of the room that I was caged in was completely dark. The only part of the room that was illuminated was where I was being bound. The only thing I could see was the overhead lamp because I couldn't move my head due to it being restrained. Slade slowly came into my field of view wearing his usual attire; half orange half black mask and all. As I watched him watch me, I could feel his cold and demonic smile spread widely underneath his mask."

Terra paused for a few seconds to clear her throat because she started to sob once again.

"He didn't say anything. He never said one word to me while I was tied down to that thing. I could feel myself slowly start to panic as he literally stood over me and watched me suffer. He did nothing to me to warrant fear but I knew to my core, I would soon be afraid for my life. Next thing I knew, he had multiple robots surround me holding trays upon trays of… objects. But what he picked up first is the one thing I will remember most vividly for the rest of my life."

All Terra did was pull her long blonde hair from her back into a ponytail and placed it on her chest. She slowly turned around and they saw what she meant.

"He branded me." Terra chocked out. "He took a blow torch and heated the metal 'S' until it was glowing red and flipped the table over. Apparently the table had a section cut out of the back in order to be able to reach my back. As I screamed in agony, I could literally smell my own skin and flesh burn. He fucking branded me with a fucking metal rod!" Terra's explosion didn't surprise the other people in the room. Both Raven and Garfield waited patiently and empathetically for the geomancer to calm down.

"After he finished assaulting me with the branding iron he took a scalpel and slowly started to cut into my skin and drag it across my entire body. Not lifting it once, he made intricate cuts into my skin and I had to bear the pain as he slowly covered my entire body with cuts produced from his scalpel."

-In the Evidence Room of Titans Tower-

Both Starfire and Nightwing were slowly sifting through all the paperwork that was stacked on the desks. Nightwing was reading and trying to find out more information on the whereabouts of their nemesis but to no avail. Starfire was just trying to organize the papers into category specific piles; one pile was for information that pertained to Slade and the other was for anything else that didn't involve Slade.

"Hey Star?" Nightwing called out.

"Yes, beloved?" Replied Starfire. She didn't look up to respond to her significant other as she was busily working on her tasks.

"Thank you." Nightwing slowly stopped shifting through the paperwork he was working on and looked up towards Starfire.

"For what my dear?" Starfire questioned, genuinely confused, slowly looking up from her work to look at her beloved.

"For being you." Nightwing smiled. Starfire just blushed in response. "Anyways, I think we should take a small break and maybe check up on Cy. He's been alone in the Control Room this whole time and we can catch up on the progress Garfield and Raven are having."

"Very well, Richard. Let's go see what our friends are up to." Starfire floated over towards her lover, took his arm in hers and they both left the Evidence Room to head towards where Cyborg should be residing.

When the two lovebirds made it to their destination they were surprised to see that Cyborg wasn't at his assigned station. But that wasn't the main thing on their minds as they paid more attention to what was being displayed on the security's monitors. As the two sat down and listened to Terra's recollection, all they could do was hold each other's hands and listen with pained hearts.

They listened to how Terra was tortured over and over, day after day. Terra remembered, vividly, how needles were placed underneath her fingernails and being skinned alive. She not only had to endure the pain of the removal of her own skin but also of experimental medication to recover what was lost. She was subjugated to extremely brutal beatings that resulted in broken and fractured bones, as well as loss of consciousness. She recapped on how she would be starved and then have her body be used as a punching bag which resulted in her dry heaving the contents of her empty stomach and much more.

The horrifying images being portrayed is enough to make one sick to their stomach, which is an understatement for what the Titans were experiencing. Starfire and Nightwing could feel complete sorrow and pity for what befell Terra. As Nightwing glances over to his lover, he could see traces of where tears fell freely from her face. He ungloves his hands and brings them up to help dry her face.

"Everything's gone to shit." Nightwing voiced emotionlessly. "Everything that has happened up until this time; Slade's disappearance leading to the assumption of his demise, the low-level amount of crime activity in the past few months and the much anticipated return of our fellow teammate… it went from good to bad, to better to worse. What could possibly happen next?"

"I do not know." Answered Starfire. "You are right to think that the past events are quite suspicious. But who are we to question what's going to happen next?"

"You're right, Star. But I can't help but feel as though something big is going down. If Slade's involved, we can be positive that it'll involve everyone; us, the citizens of Jump and possibly everything else in between. But all we know for certain is that our pains, both past and present will only help shape the unforeseeable future."

"How wise you are, my beloved." Starfire cooed. Nightwing chuckled at her lightheartedness.

"But all I know for certain," Nightwing said whilst clenching his fists, "is that whatever Slade is planning, he will never see it through and he will pay."

Beside him Starfire acknowledged what he said and knew to her very bones that she wouldn't let Slade get away with what he had done. Not now, not ever.

-In the Medical Wing of Titans Tower-

As Terra concluded her story, she slowly slid back into the cot from exhaustion. She slipped the covers over herself and she drifted into a dreamless sleep.

Garfield got up from the cot in which he was sitting on and pulled up the blanket a little higher to make sure Terra was completely covered. He leaned down and placed a light kiss on top of Terra's head.

Raven observed silently as Garfield affectionately tucked Terra in. She could only sit and watch as her emotions stirred quite the commotion within her.

'_Why must it always be _her_!'_ Rage bellowed. _'How can he still feel anything for Terra, especially after what she's done to him!'_

'_Yeah?'_ Agreed Jealousy. _'Why is he only like that when he's with her? Why can't he be like that towards us?'_

'_He does act similarly towards us.' _Added Affection. _'Just because he's acting openly towards Terra now doesn't mean he hasn't ever acted like that towards us. And that certainly doesn't mean he's in love with her.'_

'_Really?'_ Interjected Jealousy. _'Well I don't know about you lady's but everything we see now begs to differ.'_

"You're safe now, Terra." Garfield quietly said to her. "You're with friends and people who care and love you."

That was the catalyst for Raven's emotions. Raven suddenly shot up from where she sat and left the room quite hurriedly. She needed to be alone and meditate to at least think straight after that display.

Raven's sudden actions caught Garfield's attention instantly and he quietly left the room to catch up to Raven.

"Yo Raven!" Garfield called out after the doors closed behind him. "You ok?"

Raven slowed her walking until she came to a complete stop. Garfield walked in front of her but she turned around the instant he did. Her back was still to him when she spoke.

"You love her, don't you?" Raven deadpanned.

The question caught Garfield completely off guard. He didn't expect her to ask that question, not now at least.

"How can you even ask that?" Garfield asked defensively. "Of course I love her. I'll always love her. Nothing will ever change the fact that she will always have a soft spot in my heart."

Raven slowly turned around and Garfield saw the tears that were gathering in her eyes, threatening to flow down her pale face. Garfield's slightly angry face fell when he saw this. He rarely ever saw Raven express emotions and the last time he did was over five years ago.

"Go to her." Raven said harshly. "She's going to need you more than you think." With having said that, Raven stormed passed Garfield.

"What?" Garfield was dumbfounded to say the least. "For an empath, you are truly blind."

"Excuse me, Garfield?" Raven stopped dead in her tracks, pissed.

"Yes I love her, Raven. But not in the way you're probably thinking." Garfield retorted. "I love her as one would love a relative, a sibling. Just because I said 'I love her' doesn't necessarily mean I meant it in a romantic type of way. I would've assumed you of all people should see that."

"Whatever." Raven spat. "I don't want to hear your lies."

"What's wrong with you Raven?" Garfield said softly, his shoulders slumping a bit. "Why don't you believe me? Why can't you see what I truly feel? What has your judgment so clouded that you can't even notice that what I feel for her is completely platonic?"

She turned around and became determined to return to the confines of her room. The amount of emotions she was feeling and expressing was well outside her comfort zone. The fact that Raven now has the ability to express and experience emotions doesn't necessarily mean she's comfortable with it. Raven in her current situation was one of those times where she has no idea what to do or how to handle it.

Garfield watched Raven storm away from him and gained a sense of deja vu.

"No." Garfield said darkly. "Not again." _I am not letting this happen again. I'm not going to let her lock herself up in her room right when I'm so close._ He became resolute.

As Raven reached her room she punched in her entrance code. The moment her sliding doors opened with a slight _hiss_, she felt Garfield grab her shoulder firmly. Garfield pulled on her shoulder which made her turn around to face him and before she could protest, she felt the hand that was on her shoulder reach behind her head and Garfield's lips crash onto hers.

* * *

Author's Zone:

I was planning on delivering this chapter much earlier but was again assaulted with writers block. Not only that but I was completely unsatisfied with the first draft of this chapter and had to go back and redo the entire chapter because of how it first came out. Hopefully I did well in fine tuning this chapter and I want to give a personal thanks to my good friends Ian and Matt, for they helped me greatly on this chapter as well as the entire story, thus far.

I also hope that no one was confused with the added special quotations that were used with Raven's emotions. I figured that they needed to be part of the story as much as the Beast is.

Anyhow, I'm sorry for posting a rather dark chapter before all of you but believe in me when I say whoever's quote this is, it's entirely true: It's the darkest before the dawn. And ladies and gentlemen I do believe that the next chapters will be much brighter and full of… stuff. Especially for those who are BBXRae shippers, like myself.

That is the only hint I will leave. 'Till next time!


	5. Author's Note - I'm not dead!

Dear fellow readers and followers,

You have my sincerest apologies for the sudden disappearance in regards to this story. I'm here to inform you all that all the BS and waiting is all for naught. I will be updating this story on a regular basis, and more frequently than before. So please be patient with me as I'm in the process of finalizing some details and trying to find a beta.

Again, thanks for all the support for those who reviewed and I will be updating in the near future.

If you're interested in becoming my beta, please don't hesitate to place a review notifying me, or sending a PM. Either is fine.

Thanks,

Roldy

P.S. The rating for this fanfiction will be lowered to T as after some consideration, I will be placing the "mature" content, in which this story was originally supposed to have, to the adult-variant of fanfic.


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